Watch Me Unravel
by Circuit 347
Summary: After Sally is presumed dead in an explosion, Sonic's grief twists him into something vengeful... a villian. After several months of the Freedom Fighters trying to put a stop to Sonic's plans, Tails sets out to talk some sense into the hedgehog that once called him brother. And while we're at it, what really became of Sally? (Sonally is present)
1. Prologue 1

A/N: I couldn't wait to do this. I'm on hiatus from a few other stories right now and I promise I'll finish them. Anyway, I've always wondered what it'd be like if Sonic became a villian. And what better way to bring that out than this? Takes place in an AU where Knothole was never destroyed and the comic reboot never happened.

There might be violence but no gore. My definition of gore is Lord Of The Flies stuff. Example: severed heads or limbs, excessive blood, visible organs. Basically, the content of your typical Sonic E.X.E fic. This might come across as an emotional fic, but there's a lot of action.

Other than Sonally, this story contains possible other pairings, Sonic and Tails fluff, singing, and references to Christianity. Don't like, don't read.

Enjoy!

* * *

The battle and cold rain pelted the exhausted Freedom Fighters. The fight had raged on for what felt like hours and both forces were on the cusp of falling.

Eggman had somehow found Knothole and brought an entire fleet of battleships. While everyone else was terrified, Sonic had taken it as a compliment that the old doctor needed such force to fight them. Sure, he was a little nervous, but the whole ordeal mostly inflated his ego.

But now Sonic just wanted it to be over. He was bruised and bleeding. His entire body was sore from the blows he'd taken and dealt. The rest of the Freedom Fighters were no different.

Eggman was also showing signs of exhaustion. His fleets of badniks came less and less often and with smaller numbers. He didn't bother to think about any sort of strategy and attacked melee style. He was getting frustrated and worried that he'd lose even after all the time and resources he'd invested in this attack.

Basically, the Freedom Fighters were tired physically and Eggman was exhausting his resources.

Sonic spin dashed through another row of badniks and took a moment to catch his breath. He needed his energy for the plan. Sally was supposed to sneak on Eggman's battleship and detonate a bomb, destroying his greatest weapon, his roboticizer, and perhaps Eggman himself. While nobody wanted to actually kill anyone, Eggman would just keep causing chaos if left unchecked. It was his time to go, they'd decided. As for Sonic, it was his job to evacuate her before the bomb went off, since he was the fastest.

Sonic watched as Sally slipped through the hangar door of the grounded battleship. The said battleship whirled to life and hovered, preparing to go on a quick supply run for Eggman. The blue hedgehog had to be quick.

He grabbed onto the closing hangar door and was elevated. Just as the door was about to close on his hands, a brown pair of hands engulfed his own and tugged him inside.

"Oof!" Sonic exclaimed as he landed on the ground... on top of Sally.

Realizing the position they were in, the two teenagers quickly pried themselves off each other, blushing furiously.

Sally kept her eyes from Sonic's as she peeled herself off the ground. "Let's pretend that didn't just happen," She offered her hand and helped Sonic to his own feet.

"Good call," the hedgehog agreed. He looked down the metal corridor. Dark, cold, silent. "You gonna be okay by yourself, Sal?"

"Wait outside the door for me,"

Sonic nodded. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!" He scooped Sally up bridal style and smirked. "Get it? _Blow_ _this popsicle stand? _"

Sally felt the small bomb in her pocket and sighed in exasperation. "Let's get this over with,"

The duo ran through the metal corridor, not even bothering to destroy badniks they passed. They skidded to a stop at an iron door with a vault like handle.

"The engine room," Sally explained. Sonic set her down and she approached the door, pulling out a lock pick. The door opened with a creaking noise that vertebraed through Sonic's spine. The room was dark with a silver colored engine whirling with light, connected with a bunch of black wires.

Sally took the bomb from her pocket and placed the small device on top of the engine. She set the time and turned back to her blue companion. "Two minutes,"

"Gotcha," Sonic said. He scooped Sally back up and they ran down the hall again. Sonic was making a turn around a corner when he tripped and fell with a loud thud. Sally flew out of his arms and he slid across the floor, hitting his head on a wall. Disoriented, he looked up to get his bearings.

Sally was being pinned to the wall by Metal Sonic, whom had his other hand free to aim a plasma blaster at Sonic.

"Sonic! Run!" Sally screamed with wild frenzied eyes.

The hedgehog made a quick mental plan before charging toward Metal Sonic, fist rearing back. With a crack, Metal's blaster fired a red beam of light that hit Sonic square in the chest. Sally's scream shook his core as it sent him flying back, through a hangar door, and into open grey sky.

His chest stinged painfully as he fell and his stomach lurched. His quills wiped through the air and the wind stung his eyes. He screamed, but heard nothing. He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what was about to happen. When he opened them, he was in the cockpit of Tails's plane, sitting just behind his surrogate brother.

Sonic looked up at the battleship and down at his wrist communicator at his timer. **18 seconds.**

"Tails, go back!" he shouted.

Tails looked back at him, his bangs whipping in the wind. "We can't! We won't make it!"

"Sal's still in there!"

**13 seconds.**

The Tornado landed on the ground. The other Freedom Fighters rushed up to greet them as they climbed out of the cock pit, shouting questions.

"Did it work?"

"How much time left?"

"Where's Sally?"

Sonic glanced at his communicator again. **9 seconds.**

Tears formed at the corners of his eyes and his ears drooped. His mouth formed a shocked heartbroken o. "No..." **8 seconds.**

"She's... _still in there?!_ " Rotor gasped, turning pale. He grabbed Sonic's shoulders and shook him angrily. "You had ONE job!!!"

"I... I..."

**5 seconds.**

Sonic looked up at the battleship. There was nothing he could do. He had no way to get up there in a matter of seconds, not to mention getting back. Sally... she was... she...

"No..." he whispered, haunted.

**3 seconds.**

"No!"

**I second.**

And then... the battleship was engulfed in flames and a loud **BOOM **rang through the sky, sounding louder than anything else in existence. But even that didn't compare to Sonic's shrill, heartbroken wail as he collasped to his knees.

**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"**

As Sonic kneeled, crying and screaming to the sky, the other Freedom Fighters watched the fireball in horror, tears forming in their own eyes.

Sally... she was gone... she was dead. Never again would Sonic see her bright, inquisitive smile. Never would he hear her loud but silky laugh. Never would he run a hand through her beautiful auburn hair. She was gone. He failed her.

He was heartbroken. No, his heart was bleeding. It was dying. It was... pure anguish. The grief almost hurt physically. It was as if Sonic's heart had been suddenly ripped from his chest and set aflame, leaving him with nothing but the ashes.

Sonic looked up at the fireball which was sending sparks through the air in what looked beautiful and horrible all in once. He gritted his teeth as more tears fell and balled his fists.

Eggman was dead, probably. He had to have been in there. But it wasn't worth the cost. It wasn't worth losing Sally.

He stood up and wiped the tears from his muzzle, only for more to fall. His gaze was hard and stone cold as he stared at the flames in the sky. This was Eggman's fault. Sonic swore to himself that if somehow the doctor had survived, he'd make him pay. And what of GUN? Only weeks before the Freedom Fighters had requested troops for backup, but the President had denied their request. He was to blame as well and he'd feel Sonic's wrath.

Come to think of it... a lot of people were to blame. The entire world left them, a rag tag gang of _kids _to fight Eggman on their own! They were too preoccupied with lush lives and trivial matters to do the right thing. They'd suffer for it. They would all feel the anguish Sonic felt now.

Tails noticed a sudden change in Sonic's demeanor. One minute, he was on the ground, crying his eyes out and moaning in grief. The next, he was on his feet, his posture rigid and his glare cold. "Sonic?"

The hedgehog faced him and Tails gasped. From where Metal Sonic landed a hit there was a light red crystal embedded in his chest, blood dripping around it.

"Sonic," Tails said again. "Your... chest..."

Sonic looked down and his eyes widened slightly. But he looked up, his gaze still stone cold. It was then that Tails knew that his big brother had changed. He put up invisible walls around him, walls that would never again be lowered. Never again would anyone hurt him like they did today.

"We need to get you help,"

"I don't want help!"

Sonic's sharp tone startled everyone. Tails took a cautious step back as Bunnie stepped forward, her green eyes softening. "Sugahhog, we need to go. We'll figure out what to do later, now we just need to-"

"Sally was the one that figured out what to do!" he snapped. "Now she's gone because of those... those _humans! _" He said the word human as if the term itself was revolting, a horrible swear. "I know what to do: we make them pay!"

"Do you hear yourself right now?" Rotor gaped.

"Monsieur, we need to focus our resources on building up, not breaking down," Antoine argued.

"That's where you're wrong," Sonic retorted. He walked toward Antoine and, swift as a serpant, grabbed the cuff of the coyote's shirt and tugged. Everyone stifled a gasp. "We have nothing worth building up. The only way we can be at peace is if those humans learn their place,"

Bunnie angrily balled her fists. "Put 'im down, Sonic,"

Sonic smirked at her, but it wasn't his usual carefree smirk. It was demented, angry. It was on the cusp of insanity. "Oh, Bunnie, you put up a good font, but in reality, you're just as spineless as the others," He dropped Antoine and curled into a ball, winding up for a spin dash. "If you're not with me, you're against me!"

In a blue flaming burst, the spin dash charged toward Bunnie. Luckily, she and the others ducked. Sonic attacked again, this time aiming for Antoine. He suceeded, sending the swordsman sprawling backwords with a pained howl.

He was about to attack again when Tails's voice cut through the fight. "Sonic! Stop this madness!"

Sonic paused. His gaze flickered toward Tails's and for a moment, he felt guilty for what he'd just done. The remorse disappeared as quickly as it came. The now vengeful hedgehog turned his back from his brother, his comrades, his life and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Tails called out. He rushed forward and grabbed Sonic's slim tan arm. The hedgehog spun around and for a moment, Tails was afraid he'd strike him. Instead, he whispered in a low voice...

"Watch me unravel,"

Tails blinked in suprise at the phrase. Sonic tore his arm away and ran into the distance, leaving everyone behind.

* * *

Oh, yeah! So edgy! Shadow would be jealous!

Now that Sonic's turned to villiany, will the Freedom Fighters be able to stop him? And what's that crystal in his chest? Feel free to make predictions.


	2. Prologue 2

Sally screamed in fear as the red beam of light collided with Sonic's chest, sending him tumbling out the hangar door. She knew he wouldn't survive that fall. Not unless Tails was able to catch him.

Metal Sonic tightened his grip around her neck. She coughed and hacked, feeling her face slowly turn blue. She glanced at her wrist communicator and gasped at the timer. **13 seconds.**

She had thirteen seconds to get out or be blown to bits by her own bomb...

**10 seconds.**Sally kicked and squirmed. Like a python, Metal merely squeezed harder.

**8 seconds.**Her life began to flash before her eyes. Her mind ran through all the things she'd never do. She'd never see the world after Eggman's defeat. She'd never update Nicole like she promised. She'd never read another bedtime story to Tails. She'd never begrudgingly go shopping with Amy or to target practice with Shadow again.

But most painfully to her: she'd never get to tell Sonic she loved him.

**5 seconds.**

Something red and shiny caught her eye. In Metal Sonic's chest, a red gem was lodged, giving the robot's eyes an even mode menacing tint. The ruby was glowing and had redish black waves eminating from it. Sally could feel the power flowing from it. Was it a chaos emerald? A sol emerald? Something else?

**3 seconds.**Sally did the only thing she could think of. Her hand shot forward and clutched the red gem. Sparks whirled as she tugged at the ruby.

"Chaos control!"

**1 second.**As the last precious second passed, a white light filled the room. The last thing Metal Sonic saw before being envelopped by the flames was Sally fading into thin air.

* * *

A/ N: Yep. This is what _really _happened to Sally. Will Sonic find out? Will he halt his quest for revenge?


	3. Chapter One: Attempted Assassination

A/ N: In this AU, GUN is a country. It's like America in a sense but with stricter laws and different locations.

* * *

Three days of careful scheming on Sonic's part had passed and it was finally time to avenge Sally.

The hedgehog had made his home in Sand Zone City, where he lived and slept on the roof of a popular Arabic resteraunt. Nobody had even noticed his presence. Of course, all he did was put up a hamock. He'd tied a dusty grey blanket over the said hamock as a makeshift ceiling to so ewhat protect him from the rain. As for other living accommodations, Sonic lived off leftovers he'd scaveged from the resteraunt's dumpster.

He was suprised no crazed fangirl mob had found him yet, considering how high profile he was. Perhaps it was because he was so careful to hide himself. With no clothes to conceal his identity, Sonic only left his makeshift camp late at night and for short periods of time.

However, he'd found a red hoodie on the laundry line hanging from a nearby alley and jt just happened to be his size. The tag on the inside said the hoodie belonged to someone named Aiden, but Sonic was too preoccupied to feel guilty about the theft of an article of clothing, of all things.

He knew that tonight the President was making a speech to commemorate the death of Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. Just the thought made the future assassin's blood boil. President Johnson had no right to pretend to feel bad about what he and GUN let happen to Sally.

Sally... his angel... why hadn't he told her when he had the chance...?

No. He couldn't get emotional. It was pointless and a waste of time. It wasn't productive. It just hurt.

He'd scribbled down his plans and escape manuvers on a journal he'd stolen (the first page claimed it as property of someone named Diana). He would masquerade as a secret service agent. He'd stand behind the President as he made his speech. When the time was right, Sonic would use whatever weapon he would have stolen by then to end the despicable human's life. As the GUN agents scrambled to contain him, he'd smile at the sight of the politican's spilt blood and make his escape.

Today, he'd finally get his revenge.

He woke up early in the morning with an uncanny grin. If one saw him, they'd think he was about to go out for ice cream or adopt a puppy. They wouldn't have the slightest idea that his happiness was at the aspect of vengeance.

He pulled out of his backpack a black suit and tie. He'd stolen it two days before so he could masquerade as a secret service agent. Unfortunately, he didn't have any sort of weapon. Besides, he didn't know how to properly use any sort of gun or knife. He would learn as time went on with his new lifestyle.

Sonic didn't bother to hide anywhere as he changed. After all, he was already naked by human standards and nobody ever had a problem with his lack of clothes. It was only considered improper if female Mobians didn't wear clothes.

Once changed, he got a look at himself through the reflection of a neighboring building's window. His suit was wrinkled as if he'd already had a fight in it. His tie was tied loosely around his white collar and his black jacket was a tad too big. But he still looked handsome, neverless.

He pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack and took a swig of it. By accident, an old photo fell out.

It had been taken a year before. In the picture, Sonic, Sally, and dear old Uncle Chuck were standing outside Chuck's diner, smiling and arms around each other. It had been a rather jubilant day. It was the diner's grand opening. Sonic remembered how Knuckles ate too much and threw up and how Rouge forced Shadow to wear a party hat. That had also been when he and Sally shared their first kiss, outside late at night and covered in food from a food fight that Bunnie had started.

Ah, those were the good days.

_No, don't go there_, Sonic thought stubbornly as he forcefully shoved the blasted picture back into his backpack. He would destroy it later... just not now. To distract himself, he preoccupied his mind with thoughts of revenge.

He pulled out a bottle of purple dye. He didn't want anyone to recognize him and a mask with his suit would look suspicious. He threw his grey roof blanket around his shoulders so as not to ruin his suit. Then he opened the bottle and poored the strong smelling purple liquid over his head, using his bare hands to spread it around. He looked at his reflection and smiled. The dye almost looked like it was his natural hue.

Next, he pulled out a set of blue eye contacts he'd found (boy, was he doing a lot of stealing). Ever so carefully, he opened the box and picked up the left contact. He closed his right eye and focused as he placed the contact in. Once on, he blinked a few times before implanting the right one.

He looked at himself again. To his satisfaction, he looked like a completely different hedgehog. Nobody would look twice at him.

The road was blocked off as the President's limo slowly drove down, surrounded by GUN swat cars. Sonic eyed the white limosene with complete and utter disdain. He would make that human's death extra painful.

He skipped between the walls of the alley to the ground. Once there, he fell into step with the walking secret service agents, all dressed in similar attire to him. Several agents glanced at him in confusion, but shrugged it off. He was probably just one of GUN's snipers.

The group diverged at city hall and Sonic boarded a military van, sitting down next to a red wolf.

The general, an elderly dog with a bushy beard that reminded Sonic of Uncle Chuck, pulled out a clipboard and began roll call.

"Gadget!"

The wolf next to him piped up. "Here!"

"Mira!"

A human girl answered. "Here!"

"Zero!"

"Here!"

"Terrios!"

"Here!"

"Cassia!"

"Here!"

"Phantom!"

No one answered. The general scanned the group. "Where's Phantom?"

"What does he look like?" Gadget asked.

"Um..." the old dog paused to flip through documents, presumably to Phantom's profile. "He's a purple hedgehog,"

"Oh, he's right there!" a green pronghorn, Cassia said, pointing at Sonic. The general looked at the purple hedgehog and scowled. "What did I say about answering when called?"

"Sorry, sir," Sonic apologized, trying to sound sheepish. "It won't happen again,"

"It better not," the general growled before continuing with roll call. Sonic leaned back and smirked in satisfaction. He established his identity without even trying. Everyone assumed he was supposed to be here. Whoever Phantom was, he really owed the guy a thank you for not showing up that day.

Once roll call was finished, the general assigned rolls. To Sonic's dismay, he was assigned several blocks away from the President. He quickly lit up when told he had sniper duty. Sure. the shot would be hard for him to land, but he now had a means of assassination and it was literally being handed to him.

Everyone was dismissed and told to find their places. Sonic was assigned the top of an insurance headquarters, Geico to be precise. What he didn't expect to see was Shadow on the roof waiting for him.

"Hmm..." the ebony hedgehog hummed thoughtfully, his crimson gaze searching. "You must be Phantom,"

Sonic's internal alarms went off. What if Shadow recognized him? To quell any suspicion on Shadow's part, he quickly answered (a little too quickly). "Guilty as charged Fa-" he narrowly stopped himself from calling Shadow Faker. knowing it would give away his identity. "Sir," he corrected himself.

"Right," Shadow said, nodding. Sonic mirrored the action, trying to appear aloof. "Have you sniped before?"

Sonic considered answering honestly. _No, he hadn't. _He betted that Shadow would be able to teach him how to handle the gun properly, increasing his chances of success. But what if the truth was suspicious? Surely they wouldn't assign him as a sniper if the real Phantom had never sniped before.

"I snipe all the time," Sonic lied nonchalantly, leaning against the wall. "It comes natural to me. Now back to business," he added, clapping his hands eagerly. "Do you have a gun I could borrow?"

Shadow nodded, pulling out a black coated shotgun. "Where's yours?"

"Forgot it at home,"

"Can't you get it real quick?"

"There's no time. I live a couple towns over,"

Shadow eyed Sonic suspiciously, crossing his arms and scowling. "Your records say that you live a mere two blocks from here in Anna's Apartments,"

"Uh, I meant a couple _blocks _over!" the purple hedgehog exclaimed, turning pale. "Yeah, it's just that I'm a real slow walker,"

Shadow sighed -why were the latest recruits so pathetic, anyway?- and tossed Sonic the gun. The teen nearly dropped it but secured it in his grip. "Safety is on," Shadow added.

Sonic nodded. "Thanks,"

A few moments of silence passed before Shadow spoke again. "You look familiar,"

"You don't say," Sonic retorted. A bead of sweat traveled down his forehead.

"I do say," the black and red hedgehog mused. His crimson orbs searched Sonic's fake blue ones. "You remind me of a friend of mine,"

_Friend? _Shadow considered him a _friend? _Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing. Of course, he could've been talking about Silver, but as far as he knew, Shadow hardly ever encountered Silver.

Well, if Shadow counted Sonic as a friend, he wouldn't after today.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" an amplified vooce rang out in the midst of static. "Please give a round of applause for the President of the Guardian Unit of Nations: Carl Johnson!"

Sonic's heart twisted in hatred as the crowd below applauded. A human man, around his fifties or sixties took the center of the stage and spoke at the podium. "Citizens of GUN and Mobius, I come bearing historical news," He paused for effect, causing Sonic to roll his eyes. "The infamous Dr Eggman has been defeated by the courageous Freedom Fighters of Knothole!"

_No thanks to you,_ Sonic thought bitterly. The crowd began to cheer and hollar in joy, the tyrant had been defeated. Little did they know that Sonic was about to take out _another _tyrant.

"His battleship exploded with him inside from a bomb detonated by Sonic The Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn,"

Sonic's stomach twisted in grief at Sally's name. Shadow noticed as his comrade's expression morphed from disdain to agony. He shrugged it off, thinking Phantom was just opposed to Carl Johnson's politics.

"Unfortunately, Princess Sally perished along with Eggman in the blast. As for Sonic, he has gone missing for the time being and a search is underway..."

Sonic grit his teeth as his blood boiled. Shadow looked over at him again, more concerned.

"Of course, Sally's loss will not go in vain..."

Sonic cocked the magazine of his gun and flipped off the safety. He couldn't wait another second. It was time to finish it.

"What are you doing?" Shadow whisper hissed. A pit of foreboding formed in his stomach as the purple hedgehog aimed the business side of the gun at Johnson's head. "Hey! Be careful with that!"

Sonic looked at Shadow and snarled angrily. "Watch me unravel,"

Then it hit Shadow: this was an assassin!

As Sonic pulled the trigger, Shadow yelled angrily and tackled the assassin, pinning him to the ground. The shot rang through the air and screaming could be heard below. Shadow looked over the ledge to see President Johnson holding his leg which was currently bleeding. He'd been hit, but this fraud of an agent had missed his intended target. Johnson was still alive.

He looked back down at the hedgehog and nearly gasped. His right arm had a purple stain and the assasin had a blue smudge on his forehead. Come to think of it... his eye shape... his muzzle.

"Sonic!" Shadow roared. He took the barrle of his own gun and used it to pin the hedgehog to the ground. Sonic flailed his arms around and growled angrily. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"It's his fault!" Sonic bellowed loud enough for everyone in Sand Hill City to hear. "He wouldn't help us! He let her die! HE LET HER DIE!!"

It was Sally he was referring to, Shadow knew. It hit him like a tone of bricks. Sonic was now going down the same path he had, once upon a time when he lost Maria.

Shadow pressed harder. "Stay down!" He looked out and yelled. "Over here! The shooter!"

Sonic had to be quick. He used his knees to elbow Shadow in the ribs, knocking the black hedgehog off him. He hopped to his feet and climbed onto the building ledge. "Fun talking to ya, Faker, but I have business to attend to," Then he jumped.

When everyone saw Sonic's falling form, they assumed he was another suicide jumper (sadly, they were quite common in the city) and screamed. But the hedgehog had an ace up his sleave. He felt the red gem still embedded in his chest from his scuffle from Metal Sonic and focused. A moment later, a red hue filled the air and he was hovering. Everyone gasped in disbelief.

A wave of red light overcame Sonic. When it faded, he was blue again and his eyes were once again green. But... he had painted black claw marks running down both sides of his muzzle. His suit was gone. He had a red bandana tied around his neck and black leather gloves on his hands. He was himself again, but different... villianous.

He expected the soldiers to fire at him, but they didn't. The paramedics were still aiding the President, but were also gauking at him. Just like everyone else.

"Sorry if I crashed your little party," Sonic sneered in fake sympathy. His voice boomed. He sounded and felt powerful. He _loved __it. _"but I had enough of you disgusting humans. President Johnson, you brought this on yourself, you power drunk coward. This will NOT be the last you see of me! You will all feel my wrath!" He flew higher into the air, shouting as he flew off. "WATCH ME UNRAVEL!!!"

* * *

A/ N: I AM NOT ENCOURAGING POLITICAL ASSASSINATION!!!

Well, see ya!


	4. Chapter Two: Worst Case Scenario

Tails could hardly believe the news broadcast.

He'd been working on the Tornado when the TV in his workshop switched from President Johnson's press conference to a report that Sonic had attempted to assasinate said President.

The headline read: **Hero To Villian: Sonic The Hedgehog Attempts To Assasinate Carl Johnson**

"Witnesses say that he hovered above the ground," the female news anchor relayed. "They say he declared that Johnson 'let her die', referring presumably to the late Princess Sally Acorn. The manhunt is currently underway. As for the President, he is in serious condition but is expected to recover,"

Tails blinked in shock. He knew Sonic was angry at the humans and blamed them for what happened to Sally, that was obvious. But _this? _How could he do something like this? It... it wasn't... it wasn't Sonic!

Just then, his wrist communicator rang with a text from Rotor: **Meeting at Freedom HQ.**

Oh great. What did they want now? Did they know about what Sonic had done?

Tails sighed in frustration and left his own humble abode, walking across the stretch of village to Freedom HQ. Inside, the Freedom Fighters were sitting around an oval table, looking somber.

"Hey, guys," Tails said, smiling brightly. He hoped to come off like he wasn't worried.

They barely gave him a single glance as the kitsune sat down between Rotor and Antoine. Nicole cast out her nanite lynx form and typed some commands into the computer.

Tails suddenly had a twisting feeling in his stomach. "What is this about?"

Nicole spun around to look at Tails and sighed. "Sonic tried to kill the President of GUN,"

"I know," Tails replied, his voice sad and far off. "I saw it on the news,"

Rotor tapped his fingers thoughtfully before forcing himself to look the kitsune in the eye. "Look, Tails. With everything that's happened, Sonic has proved himself to be a threat. A villian. You know what we do with villians?"

Tails stayed silent, thinking Rotor was asking a rhetorical question and also dreading the answer. After a moment, Bunnie finished Rotor's statement. "We stop them,"

"But Sonic's not a villian!" Tails whined pitifully, his tails snapping behind him. "He's just angry! And scared! And-"

"We know you are quite close with him," Nicole said. "But it doesn't matter if he's doing what he's doing because he's upset about Sally's... _demise_. He's still going to do it,"

"But-"

"We already made our decision. Sally stated in her will that if anything happened to her for Sonic to take her place as leader. But now... he's no longer qualified. Sally made the precaution that if something happened to her and Sonic both for me to take control,"

Tails slumped. He knew good and well where this was going.

"Therefore, I will make the decision that is best for us and best for the world. We will hunt him down and we will defeat him,"

"We..." Tails's voice cracked. "We won't have to _kill __him. _Right?"

Everyone exchanged a look before Antonie piped up. "Eef it comes to dat, then yes,"

"If we have to end his life, he'll have brought it on himself," Rotor stated. "Best case scenario is that he's willing to negotiate and we talk him out of this, getting him back on our side. Worst case scenario is-"

"Us having to kill him?" Tails blurted.

"No," Nicole sighed, shaking her head. "Worst case scenario is that _he_ kills _us_,"

* * *

Uh oh. Things don't look good for anyone right now. Feel free to review!


	5. Chapter Three: Into The Future

When Sally opened her eyes, she wasn't standing in the metal corridor.

She was in the middle of a desolate plain. Absolutely no vegetation could be seen for miles. Dust filled wind whipped at her clothes and hair. The sky was colored a light grey, bleak and lifeless.

In the distance was what looked like the ruins of a city. Sally peered at said ruins until a lightbulb ignited in her mind. This field was familiar... it was the field she and the Freedom Fighters _just _fought in. But what happened? When she saw it a few minutes ago, it was chaotic, yes but it had lush green grass.

The field was littered with rusty husks of robots. Sally approached one, an old centapeedle. The contraption was covered in dust and mashed into pieces. Despite having been destroyed that same day, it already looked ancient. Too ancient.

And what of the ruins? It was in the place of Knothole but it looked... like heck. Surely it couldn't actually _be _Knothole. Even if the city had been destroyed by Eggman, it looked as if it'd happened years ago. The buildings were eroding.

Something wasn't right.

Sally started walking at a brisk place toward the ruins. As she approached it, the structures looked more and more familiar. On the city wall, there was graffiti, some she recognized, some she didn't. She had to admit, she'd graffitied several months ago after she lost a bet with Sonic. The deal was that the loser graffiti the winner's name, so blue bubbly letters spelling out Sonic's name were right where Sally remembered. But they were barely coherent, fading with time.

Another that caught her eye were sloppy white letters (obviously the vandal wasn't an artist) spelling the phrase _Watch me unravel._ Where did that come from? What did that mean? Sally approached the white letters and stroked the cold concrete wall. Something conveyed that these letters _meant _something. Something important.

She looked down and realized that she was still holding the red gem she'd used to teleport from Eggman's battleship. Come to think of it, what was this gem, anyway?

Sally stared at the graffiti, her brow knitted in concentration. After a moment, her shoulders slumped. She had to admit it. This was Knothole.

But what in chaos's name caused the city to look like this? Did Eggman survive the blast? And more importantly, why did the damage look so old? The city itself wasn't even that old. It was as if she traveled through time...

Sally shook her head in frustration and passed through the city gates. The buildings were broken and crumbled. Not a single soul was out and about. The place was a ghost town. Uncle Chuck's diner along the intersection had broken windows and the walls looked burnt. The suburban houses were either trashed or completely demolished. The traffic stop was tipped over. The image was... sad, to be blunt.

The Princess kept walking down the street until she saw something that made her heart sing: a person.

"Silver!" she screamed in joy. As the white hedgehog spun around, Sally enveloped her time traveling friend in a hug.

Silver gasped in shock. "Sally- wha?!" He quickly held her at arms length and looked her up and down. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "It's really you... you're supposed to be freaking dead!"

Sally blinked in suprise. "Huh?" Then it hit her. She gave no warning to her friends that she used chaos control. She didn't even have the chance. They must've all thought she was dead. "Oh... crap,"

Silver grinned happily and hugged Sally. This time, it was her that recoiled. "Sally, I can't believe it!" Then he pulled away again, still smiling. "I got the news that you died, so I went back to my time," Then he frowned and his gold gaze turned downcast. "When I came back, everything was wrecked,"

"Wait... we're in the future?"

Silver nodded. "Yep. Two hundred years to be precise,"

"Oh, no no no no," the girl muttered. She held her head as she started to hyperventilate. "No no no NO!! What happened to make things come to this?!"

"Beats me," the albino hedgehog shrugged. "I just got here. I'm just as clueless as you. Here's an idea: how about we find Knuckles? He's a reknowned historian in this timeline,"

Sally's jaw dropped and her arms went slack. "Two hundred years into the future and Knuckles is still alive?"

"Yeah. Something about him being the Guardian of the Master Emerald. Rumor goes that all the chaos energy slowed down his aging process. Least that was the rumor before the timeline turned into this wasteland,"

"Then let's scope him out," Sally decided.

* * *

Silver and Sally traveled along the lush expance of Angel Island. It seemed as if the island were the only place spared by whatever wrecked the rest of the world. There were even people in small primitive villages going about their days. It made Sally smile, knowing that _this _paradise was still in one piece.

Besides the famed Master Emerald altar was an old shabby hut with steam flowing out the opened window. Silver and Sally exchanged a knowing glance. This was the place.

Sally stepped forward and knocked forcefully, accidentally punching a hole in the decaying door. "Um... hello? Sorry about the door,"

Footsteps. Then there was an old crinkled face staring through the hole Sally had punched. "Whaddya want," the person asked in a raspy voice.

"Are you Knuckles?" Silver inquired hopefully.

"Yeah, what's it to you?"

"This is Silver and Sally. Let us in, please?"

Knuckles snorted and threw open the door. His fur was a duller red than Sally remembered. He had a long white beard and was hunched over, supporting himself with a cane. His glare was chilling to the bone. "Two hundred years and you finally dare to show your face, along with a Sally Acorn imposter," He peered at Sally, more thoughtfully. "You do look like her. I bet you'd make a good living as an actor or look alike. But she died two hundred years ago. It's not possible,"

Sally pulled something from her pocket... the necklace Sonic had got her for her birthday. It was silver colored and in the shape of an acorn. He'd bought it claiming that it was practically made for her and Sally thought he was right. She loved the way it reflected light and it was identical to her family crest. She wore it everyday.

When Knuckles laid eyes on the pendant, his purple orbs largened in shock. "Where did you get that?"

"From Sonic, duh,"

Knuckles's eyes filled with tears as he shot forward and hugged her. "All this time... how is this possible?! And how do you still look so young?!"

When he pulled away, sniffing, Sally smiled sheepishly. "Um... I accidentally time traveled in the battleship,"

"During the Battle Of Knothole," Knuckles said, nodding in understanding.

"Battle of Knothole?" both younger Mobians blurted in confusion.

The old echinda sighed. "Inside, both of you. I have some explaining to do,"

He stepped aside so the other two could walk in. The house was messy, to be polite. Books and colorful liquids were strewn about. Old trinkets lined the shelves. A dusty cot was lined against the corner, presumably for Knuckles. A table was set in the center of the room and covered with various books, dishes, and whatnot.

With a careless motion, Knuckles pushed the table's contents off, sending them tumbling to the creaky wooden floor. Several glasses broke, but if he noticed he obviously didn't care. He reached over to a nearby bookshelf and pulled out a thick blue book.

When it hit the table surface, it landed with a loud thud and sent dust into the air. Silver turned his head away as Sally coughed. Knuckles briskly opened the yellow faded pages and an article along with a picture of the field outside the city two hundred years ago.

"Two hundred years ago, the Freedom Fighters fought what is now known as the Battle Of Knothole," he relayed. "Story goes that you and Sonic planted a bomb on Eggman's battleship. Nobody knows what happened to Eggman, although several claimed to have seen him afterwards. It was believed that you died,"

"Oh, yeah. I figured," Sally said.

"That's not all, so don't interrupt!" Knuckles snapped. "Anyway, Sonic was _devastated _by your death. The guy... he completely lost it. He started causing trouble. It started when he tried to assassinate the President and failed, for he blamed the humans for what happened to you. After that, he caused even more chaos. He took control of Eggman's deserted robots and began attacking and capturing humans with the new weaponry,"

He turned the page. The article showed a picture of Sonic, but he looked... different. Black paint in the shape of claw makrs went doan both sides of his muzzle. A red bandana was tied around his neck. His arms were crossed and showing black fingerless gloves. His green eyed gaze was cold and focused. Obviously, this was an artist's depiction, but Sonic still looked... demented.

"Sonic tried to kill President Johnson again and was successful. He even sent his forces to trash Knothole, which is why it looks so torn up today. He caused a lot of trouble, Sally. He did it because he was trying to avenge your 'death',"

Sally took a step back and lowered her gaze... it was her fault Sonic did all that. Then again, she didn't have many options. It was either travel through time or die. For real.

"Sonic found Eggman's roboticizer and actually started _using _it! He roboticized countless humans," Knuckles continued his eyes wide and almost haunted by the fact that Sonic would resort to something like that. "With his mecha army, he wiped out most of the humans he didn't roboticize, nearly driving humanity to extinction. A lot of Mobians were caught in the crossfire and died as well. The entire world was ravaged,"

"Sonic would _never_ do that!" Silver interjected.

Knuckles sighed heavily, looking out into space. "Grief can really change a person. You know that, Sally,"

Sally nodded, knowing good and well what Knuckles was referring to. Sonic's space odyssey. While he was trapped in space and trying to get home, Sally and the others believed he was dead. In that year, the Princess had changed. She became more irritable, antisocial. She was constantly trying to track down Eggman. She wanted him to suffer, she wanted him to pay for Sonic's "death." She loathed the Xorda as well and wished she had the chance to...

She became like him. She wanted revenge. Only difference was that Sonic actually went through with it.

Silver cocked his head quizzically. "What happened after Sonic destroyed civilization?"

"The survivors of his wrath spread themselves out into the most isolated areas of the world," Knuckles explained. "Slowly but surely, the world is being repopulated by humans and Mobians alike, although we have a long way to go. As for Sonic, he lived to be around one hundred and eight years old,"

"_One hundred and eight__?! _" Silver and Sally gaped in unison.

"Yes. After his rampage, he locked himself up in the tower he used as his headquarters. That tower was where he defeated the Freedom Fighters with his robots and the Phantom Ruby,"

"What's the Phantom Ruby?" Sally asked.

Knuckles growled lowly, obviously annoyed. "I told you not to interrupt me! Anyway, the Phantom Ruby was a red gem infused with chaos energy, like a chaos emerald but demented. Eggman created several and used them in Metal Sonic prototypes Somehow, one got lodged into Sonic's chest, giving him full use of it's power. The Phantom Ruby kept his body young and healthy all those years. But in those long years, he suffered. He lived with the company of nothing but robots. He never leaved the tower once. Eventually, he had it removed. Nobody knows if it was on accident or on purpose. The only indication of his death was the Phantom Ruby laying on a table and a journal right next to it,"

Knuckles pulled out another book, this one smaller with a brown cover. On the front were the words _Sonic's Journal: Confessions Of A Villian._ He handed the relic to Sally and she flipped through it. To her suprise, there weren't many entries.

_March 12, 3445._

_I received this journal from Orbot, who thought it would be a good idea to write my story. Personally, I thought having a journal would be a waste of time, but I decided to give it a shot. It's not like I have anything better to do._

_You probably have heard the tales of the fiendish Sonic The Hedgehog. Guess what, everything you heard was true. I'm a monster. I'm heartless. I have no morals. And after all these years, I've accepted it. Nobody bothers to dig deeper, so why make them?_

_I doubt you know my motives. If you're a human by chance, I would've killed you by now, had I still been alive by the time you found this. Then again, I could be and you could be reading this as you run from my guards or even me personally. No, that can't be right. You wouldn't be able to outrun me._

_Keep reading if you dare. And while you're at it, watch me unravel._

_April 4 3445_

_Still here? Good. Here's the confession part..._

_Those disgusting humans ruined my life back when I was a teenager. They denied us Freedom Fighters well needed aide. We were just kids. Kids! How dare they leave us to a mad dictator that waa even more ruthless than I am now???_

_In the Battle Of Knothole, wanna know what was lost other than millions of dollars in property damage? The girl I loved and fought for... Sally Acorn._

Sally stopped reading as her throat caught. He... loved her? But... but... how? They had been best friends and had dated in the past, yes, but he still had feelings for her as she did for him?

She shook her head out of shock and continued reading.

_You probably know the Princess for her famed tactical skills or beheld beauty. Or perhaps her life long legacy of the Freedom Fighters? Her tragic death?_

_I knew her as a master chess player, a bookworm. I knew her for the way her nose crinkled when she laughed or the deep lines that formed in her brow when she was angry, most of the time at me for going off plan. I knew her for her love of nature and her bad habit of chewing on her nails. I knew her for the way she comforted me when my parents were roboticized and her tears whenever the trees' leaves died in the fall._

_You think you know who Sally Acorn was based on a history class? Guess what, you don't know crap!_

_Naturally, I was deeply disturbed when those disgusting humans let her die. I still am today. Everything I did... I did for her. Not a moment went by without her tucked in the back of my mind. The look of fear I last saw her with still plagues me today..._

_June 21 3445_

_Today was my one hundred and eighth birthday. To celebrate, I performed target practice on an Eggman dummy._

_Believe it or not, but I still have the body I had when I was fifteen. The Phantom Ruby has stopped my aging process. I've run some experiments and found that if it were removed, I'd die in a matter of minutes. My heart would stop beating because it would realize that it is one hundred and eight years old... simple as that._

_As for my autobiography, you probably wonder to yourself sometimes how I adapted to machinery so easy. Well, before I became a villian and when Sally was still alive, I had a lot of run ins with Eggman's robots. I broke their husks, I predicted their manuvers. Years of fighting the very technology I'd come to use tuned my mind to their functions._

_I also spent countless mundane summer afternoons with Tails and Rotor. Sometimes I'd help them with their inventions. Sometimes I'd just watch. Those two left me with a basic knowledge of robotics._

_Little known that I was also the nephew of the inventor Charles Hedgehog. My dear old uncle worled alonside Robotnik before the fat man revolted and started the First Robotnik War, in which the generation before fought. Living with Uncle Chuck gave me understanding in mechanics and physics._

_In the end, I think it was Uncle Chuck that I betrayed the most. I remember seeing him once... I was gonna habe him sent to the roboticizer for espionage, but the pleading look in his eyes... it stopped me. It was as if I suddenly remembered that he was the man that raised me. Therefore, I let him go scot free. I never saw him again._

_September 30 3445_

_An accident occurred today. I... ran into a wall, as embarrassing as it is to admit. Tragically, in doing so I cracked the Phantom Ruby. I can already feel it's power draining from my body. It's getting harder to move and my breathing has become labored._

_I'm dying._

_I wonder where my soul will go... Heaven? Hell? Can I be forgiven for what I've done in my life?_

_What would the others think if they saw me now? Would they pity me? Would they rejoice at the fact that karma was coming back to bite me? I wouldn't blame them._

_I've done some thinking... I blamed the humans because all along, I actually blamed myself and was too much of a coward to admit it. I was supposed to protect Sally, I had one job... ONE JOB... and I blew it._

_I took my rage out on everyone else. I somehow thought that vengeance would solve things. And now... I have nothing... I killed my friends... I brought the world to it's knees... I'm nothing._

_Perhaps this is a good thing. It's my time to go. If by some miracle I see the faces of my loved ones again... I have quite a bit of apologizing to do, but I don't care. I miss Tails... my little brother. He tried to get through to me, but I wouldn't listen. He fought me to try to save me. In the end, it just blew up in his face._

_The Freedom Fighters made the right decision in trying to kill me. They didn't want to, I know that now. They were trying to save everyone. I wish I had the mind to spare them... I miss them too._

_And Sally... sweet intelligent Sal. I've already expressed what she meant to me through nearly a century of villiany._

_And that, reader, is my story. So go and watch me unravel._

_-Sonic the Hedgehog._

Sally closed the book firmly and handed it back to Knuckles. Tears were blinking their way in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them. Sonic spent almost a century miserable all because of her.

"Silver," she whispered. "Send me home. I need to stop this... I need to stop _him. _To save him,"

"I can't,"

"_What?!_ "

Silver bowed his head apologetically. "I depleted my power. Every five months, a shooting star shoots past the Earth. It's what gives me my power... but it runs out after a few trips. Five months from now, it'll come back. I can send you home them,"

"But..." Knuckles said. "... our timelines are linked because of Silver. If an hour passes here, an hour passes there. Five months pass here..."

"Five months there," Sally finished. Her shoulders slumped. "How much damage will there be?"

"Five months after your so called death is the Battle Of Knothole," Knuckles replied. "You'll come back just as it's happening. You'll have a chance to change things, but you'll have to be quick. In the meantime, you'll have plenty of time to train and prepare,"

Sally nodded. "Thank you,"

* * *

As Sally walked through the village with Silver, she nervously chewed her fingers. Right in the Battle Of Knothole? What if she came two minutes late to save everyone? What if Sonic thought she was an imposter or accidentally killed her with one of his robots?

Whatever the situation, she had no choice but to face it.

* * *

A/ N: Sally lives! Yay!

And yes, I'm using the Phantom Ruby from Sonic Forces. Think of bad guy Sonic as a cocky version of Infinite. Instead of being able to manipulate reality, he has typical chaos emerald abilities.

Will Sally be able to stop Sonic in time? Stay tuned!


	6. Chpater Four: Snively

Several days passed since Sonic's attempted assassination. To say the hedgehog was frustrated was an understatement. He was livid with himself. He simply couldn't understand how he'd failed.

That was the least of his worries. The government had started a manhunt for him. Not just GUN's government, but also the Kingdom Of Acorn, Spagonia, The Dragon Kingdom, _everywhere._ Wherever Sonic went, there were people waiting to detain him.

Therefore, he was forced to live in the woods. Back in Sand Hill City, he had a brief chance to grab his belongings before the SwatCars rolled in and started shooting. With the power of the mysterious red gem, he flew into the wilderness outside Spagonia. To get supplies, he used the gem to disguise himself as a simple traveler. Nobody suspected a thing.

Unfortunately, the transformation had tired him every time. He knew that he couldn't fully depend on the Phantom Ruby. It was useful, not a Play God card.

Sonic had to think of his next move. Would he try to assasinate President Johnson again? Would he go after someone else? Would he-

Then a thought popped in his mind. Eggman's machinery was just sitting around somewhere, laying in waiting. If he got his hands on it, he'd be a force to be reckoned with...

* * *

Snively had mixed feelings regarding his uncle's passing. While he certainly felt for the old guy, it left him with a hearty inheritance. It wasn't like he and Eggman actually loved each other, but Snively was the doctor's only heir. The machinery had to go to someone. It wasn't like the roboticizer would do any good collecting dust.

He was typing commandings on the main computer when a whoosh filled the room. He looked over and nearly wet himself.

Sonic had knocked down the metal doors and was walking toward Snively briskly. The short human stifled a scream as the hedgehog's gloved hand clasped itself around his throat. The hedgehog's gaze was cold and calculating instead of bloodthirsty. Snively wasn't sure if that was better or worse.

"S-Sonic!" he hacked. "Look, let's not get rash!"

"Your uncle killed the Princess," Sonic accused lowly.

"She was the one that planted the bomb. Technically, she killed herself,"

Sonic tightened his grip. "Eggman sent Metal after us. If he hadn't done that, we both would've made a clean escape!"

"So it was Metal! Blame him, not me!"

Sonic tightened his grip even further. Snively felt his skin turn blue as he coughed and wheezed. He whispered lowly. "You're on thin ice, Sniveley. You currently have two options. One: give control of Eggman's tech over to me and I'll let you go. Two: be stubborn and I'll snap your neck, taking the tech for myself afterwards. Either way, I get what I want. Might as well spare yourself,"

"Okay, okay! You win!" Snively yelled. Sonic let go, sending the human to the ground with a loud thud. Groaning, Snively peeled himself to his feet. "How can I trust you? Why would you possibly spare me? I know about the stunt you pulled in Sand Hill City. You hate humans,"

Sonic was silent for a moment before laughing. "Oh, Snively, you're not as smart as I thought you were. I kinda need you right now. While I have a basic understanding of robotics, you know how to run the roboticizer. For the time being, I need you,"

So that was it. Once Sonic learned how to work the machinery by himself, he was toast. The hedgehog would have no furthur use for him and would surely have him killed or roboticized. His only chance at survival was making the learning process as complicated and long as possible.

"I see," Snively said. "I'm happy to be of service, _Master,_ "

Sonic smirked deviously. "Now _that's _what I like to hear. With pleasantries aside, get to work. I need the roboticizer up and running ASAP,"

* * *

Snively delayed the repairs to the old broken machine as long as possible and didn't work whenever Sonic was watching, for he was afraid that if the hedgehog saw his hands and what they did he'd pick up knowledge.

Everyday, he'd undo his daily process, simply rearranging the same wires and panels. After a week or so of this, Sonic got suspicious so he stopped doing it. A week after that and the roboticizer was fully functional. It just needed it's first test subjects.

The very first was one of Eggman's old prisoners, a group of humans from GUN detained originally for espionage. According to their files, they'd posed as Eggman soldiers all the while sending back information to GUN. Snibely had still been deciding what to do with them when Sonic took over.

Now he knew not what _he'd _do to them, but what Sonic would do.

"No! Stop!" a man screamed in terror as he and his comrades were thrown into the wide tube. Sonic slowly walked around the filled attraption like a predator stalking it's prey.

He feigned a chuckle. "You humans look so pathetic when you're scared. It's hilarious, really," He stopped just in front of the man that had cried out and psuehd his right fist against the glass, not flinching an inch. His face remained cold. "Your President is the cause of my pain. Seeing his own men turning from flesh to metal... already sounds so delicious," He turned to Snively. "Fire it up,"

Snively pulled down hard on the lever and the roboticizer whirled to life.

* * *

A/N: Poor Snively. He's really in a rock and a hard place, isn't he.

To the guest, thanks for the reviews! Also, if the Phantom Ruby was affecting Sonic's head, he wouldn't know it. I'm not saying it is, but rather it's not impossible. Maybe it's something else? We'll just have to see... ; )

See ya next chap!


	7. Chapter Five: Tails's Quest

Word reached the Freedom Fighters that Sonic took over Eggman's technology and roboticized a group of captive humans. Tails for one couldn't understand how Sonic would do such a thing. The hedgehog hated roboticization! His parents were roboticized by Eggman, as well as his uncle once upon a time.

Then again, Sally's loss had deeply affected him. Perhaps it caused him to change his stance on roboticization... or maybe he just didn't care.

Tails sighed heavily as he crawled from the underbelly of the Tornado. He'd been repairing the plane for the past hour. With the flight he was gonna make, he didn't want to break down halfway to Spagonia at some seven eleven.

He had to go to Spagonia to speak to a certain inventor. He knew that if the Freedom Fighters knew what he was doing, they'd forbid him from doing it. But he had to do it. He missed his big brother.

* * *

Charles hadn't been himself since Sally's death. He'd known the Princess since she was an infant... he saw her like a daughter the same way he saw Sonic like a son rather than a nephew.

Grief aside, he was shell shocked at Sonic's stunt in Sand Hill City. How could he have done that?! Surely he'd raised him better! He knew that he loved Sally (it was quite obvious to him), but he'd never thought Sonic would do something so horrible. And then the news of the roboticizer... it was just too much.

Naturally, he'd been suprised when Tails waltzed into his office without knocking or even a warning of his visit.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Tails sat down in the chair in front of his desk and cleared his throat before looking him in the eye. "Sir Charles, I need your help. This is about Sonic,"

"I will _not _be a part of this battle," he stated firmly. "While what Sonic is doing is wrong, I will _not _be a part of his defeat. I..." he sighed. "I just can't,"

"That's not what I came to discuss. I want help talking some sense into him,"

Charles took a moment to mull it over before answering. "And you came to me because...?"

"You raised him," Tails said. "You probably know him better than even I do. What can get through to him?"

"As far as I remember, the only one that could talk Sonic out of a bad idea was Sally if she really pressed on it. He's that stubborn,"

"Would he listen to me?"

Charles fumbled with his moustache thoughtfully. "There's no telling. Sonic has a great deal of respect for you, but there's a fine line between respect and actually listening to," he said before adding nostalgically. "I know _that_ well,"

"Where could I find him?" Tails asked.

Charles blinked in shock. "You aren't serious?! Tails, look. I know he's your best friend, but he's really unpredictable right now,"

"He'd never hurt _me_. I'm his lil' bro,"

"We can't take a chance,"

"Mom said not to gamble," Tails said, standing up. He kept his gaze serious and unblinking. "but just this once, I think she'd understand,"

With that, Tails took his leave, shutting the door behind him. As the door shut, dear old Uncle Chuck heaved a long forlorn sigh.

"Please bring back my Sonny Boy..."

* * *

A/ N: Sorry for the short chap : /


	8. Chpater Six: Training

Sally never told Silver or Knuckles about the red gem she had in her pocket: the Phantom Ruby. She wasn't sure whether or not it even was a Phantom Ruby. It very well could've been a chaos emerald.

The day after she spoke to Knuckles, she went to the village's library to gather some more information about two hundred years ago. In order to conceal her identity, she borrowed a blue cloak from Knuckles. After all, the last thing she needed was a mob of people shouting questions at a two hundred year old back from the dead Princess.

In her time at the library, she learned that the battle where the Freedom Fighters died, the Last Stand as people referred to it was the turning point of history. Apparently, Sonic had a plan to roboticize the entire human population at once. The Freedom Fighters caught wind of it and set out to his headquarters to stop him.

The battle didn't go well. The Freedom Fighters were killed at the hands of Sonic's mecha soldiers. Rumor went that Tails fought Sonic completely by himself... and perished.

Sally blinked at that paragraph in disbelief. Surely Sonic wouldn't resort to destroying Tails...

She simply didn't understand how the hedgehog could've reacted so severely to her death. She expected crying, maybe a funeral. At worst, she expected Sonic to have a minor personality change... not this. Not something so radical.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Silver as he walked inside, waving her over. Sally reluctantly set her book down and greeted him at the door. "Hey,"

"Guess what time is it!" the white hedgehog said excitedly.

To amuse him, Sally pretended to consider. "Two o'clock?"

"Training time!" Silver finished with jazz hands.

"Huh?"

He looked at her as if she were insane. "The Last Stand was a major bloodbath. The best of the best were effortlessly defeated. Going in unprepared is suicide,"

"So is pestering me before I had lunch,"

Ignoring Sally's threat, Silver went on. "You'll need martial arts training, more target practice, proper weaponry, and armor,"

"Um... really, Silv?"

"Yes! Let's get going!"

* * *

The duo stopped walking at an open clearing set with training dummies in a circle.

Silver had given Sally a plasma blaster. The bulky contraption was strapped to her back, making the hike a true pain. It was half her height and weighed what felt like a hundred pounds, which was a lot considering that the average weight of a Mobain was eighty pounds. Sally was seventy five, making her borderline anorexic. Bunnie hadn't been kidding when she said she needed to eat more.

"Time to get to business," Silver said, clapping his hands. "I'm gonna use my powers to move around the dummies and you're gonna try to shoot them. Simple as that,"

Sally unstrapped the blaster from her back and cocked the magazine. The blaster made her arms ache from the weight. If she wasn't so athletic, she would've dropped it by now.

Silver channled his power and the dummies were immersed in teal light before hovering above the ground. Sally shot at one of them, sending her a quick jolt and a green beam of light toward the dummy. To her dismay, Silver moved it to the right just in time.

Sally shot again at another dummy and missed. The said dummies circled her and moved at changing speeds. It was as if Silver was mocking her. She shot again. And again. And again. And again. Not one shot actually landed.

She looked over at Silver, who was supressing a grin.

Sally growled in frustration and began shooting blinding in a barrage. She closed her eyes and shot at random in a frenzy, shouting words the author would rather not repeat here.

When she opened her eyes, every single dummy was skewered with holes and the tops of Silver's quills were burnt.

"Oh, um..." Sally trailed off sheepishly. "Sorry,"

Silver reached a hand behind him and felt the top of his head. His eyes widened before he closed them and sighed. "Remind me not to cross you. I'd congratulate you, but you didn't even have your eyes open. That was luck, not skill,"

"I can barely even hold a blaster this size," the Princess complained. "Can't I use a sword or bow staff instead?"

Silver shrugged and snapped his fingers. Almost instantly, a bow staff covered in teal light appeared in Sally's hands. It was metal but lightweight. It even had black padding in the middle for a firm grip. Sally couldn't help but feel elated, even if it was over an object of all things.

The dummies were covered in teal light and the blows they'd recieved from Sally's shooting frenzy faded, making them look new again. They stayed closer to the ground in their floating this time but still hovered around in a circle.

Sally clutched her weapon firmly as she decided her first target. She was about to strike when _wham! _A rogue dummy collided into her back, sending her sprawling forward. Luckily, she managed to regain her footing. She sent Silver an irritated glare just as another dummy rammed into her side.

A third attacked toward her front, but Sally quickly held out her staff and the dummy ran right into it, impaling itself. The Princess smirked in satisfaction, only for her to recieve a blow from behind that sent her to the ground.

"Guard all angles!" Silver advised urgently, as if this were a real battle in The Last Stand. Sally peeled herseld off the ground and rammed her staff into a side attacker. Another aimed for her front only to be met with a similar outcome.

Then it hit her: the dummies were attacking in a pattern. Smirking, she stuck the staff from behind her and looked over. Another dummie had been impaled. The pattern went on a few more times before Sally looked up one second too late; a dummy was plunging downward toward her head.

The cloth doll hit her forehead with so much force that Sally knew for certain that it'd leave a huge mark... and a horrible headache.

As she yelled out and held her head, Silver's powers dropped the spinning dummies, sending them to the ground with loud thuds. He approached Sally and offered his hand. Begrudgingly, she took it. "Nice work today," he allowed.

Sally did a double take as she rubbed her forehead. "Nice work doesn't usually involve concussions,"

All the white hedgehog could do was shrug. "That's how Blaze trained me and look how I turned out," He began walking down the hill, leaving his student with a puzzled look.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To Knuckles's place," Silver yelled over his shoulder before stopping to look at Sally. "If you want to defeat Sonic or save him depending on how you look at it, we'll need more information about his abilities and past battle strategies,"

Sally rolled her eyes almost arrogantly. "I grew up with Sonic. I know him better than he probably knows himself. He's a hit and run kind of fighter. He'll land a fierce blow, retreat temporarily, and repeat the sequence,"

"That's how he fought _before_, back when he was still the good guy and relied on his own brute force," Silver reminded.

The chipmunk lingered for a moment, looking into space befoee answering. "He's not a bad guy,"

"He's not necessarily a good guy with what he did in your timeline, or rather what he's _doing_, with the link and all,"

"He's not a villian,"

Silver scanned the girl's flustered defensive facial expression before sighing. He needed to word this carefully. "I knoa you're used to him being the selfless hero-"

"Because he still is,"

"- but with the way things are now, Sonic really is a villian,"

"How about we settle with misunderstood?"

Silver bristled. "I'm not saying he's a _bad guy_, just that he's doing some bad things. Take Shadow for example. Remember the stories of all the stuff he did after losing Maria?"

"Yeah," Sally said, nodding. "He worked for Eggman and almost let the Space Colony Arc ram into the planet,"

"Back then, he was technically a villian until he met Sonic and changed up his act. Is he a villian now? No,"

"Er..." Sally hesitated for a moment, grimacing. "Can you not compare me to Maria? She died, after all. Like, _really _died,"

Silver shurgged. "Whatever floats your boat,"

The two Mobains continued the rest of the walk in silence, both wondering to themselves: What exactly is a villian?"

* * *

A/ N: Sorry for not updating yesterday. I kinda sorta maybe got grounded...


	9. Chpater Seven: Delicious Deception

Lien Da was rather eager (to put it lightly) to hear that Sonic had switched to villiany. Eggman had not only been suspicious of her, he was an outright fool in her opinion. His plans had no base and were often repetitive. He didn't look at his conquest with a logical mind; all he really cared about in the long run was killing Sonic, which he failed to do countless times where she could've ended that hedgehog's miserable existence effortlessly.

To put it simply, Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was an idiot.

Sonic, however, was much more clever than he let on. He thought out of the box, which both helped and harmed him at times but anything was better than Eggman's way of thinking. Sure, he was impulsive but he actually had a clear and definite goal: wipe out the humans. He didn't focus his energy on one impossible target only to go into a childish tantrum whenever that said target escaped. If Sonic failed, he merely fought harder until he got what he wanted. Not to mention that he was powerful.

Only problem: he was completely ignorant of the power he possessed. Lien Da had been directly involved in the creation of the first Phantom Ruby prototypes; she knew just what they were capable of. One prototype ruby could power a city for a century. Sonic's was one of the more complete models implanted in a certain Metal Sonic (that was destroyed along with Princess Sally and Eggman's prized battleship). His ruby, is used correctly could robotize the entire human race in the blink of an eye. It could change history and Sonic had no idea.

Lien Da knew that the only reason Sonic had turned to the dark side was because he was grieving Sally's death and blamed the humans for her demise. His goal wasn't one of world denomination; it was simply destruction.

The female echinda had a careful plan of how she'd use Sonic to her advantage. She'd slip into his ranks and slowly earn his trust. Once promoted to assistant like she had been with Eggman, she'd make some... _adjustments_ to the roboticizer. She'd considered just killing Sonic, but he was too powerful to just be dispensed. She could use him to her advantage and as a mecha soldier, he'd be fully compliant to her will.

She could be the conquerer Eggman never had the sanity to be.

* * *

Sonic woke up to a loud wail of the alarm. Grumbling profanities under his breath, he tossed aside the bedsheets and glanced at the clock which read 3:47am. Sweet chaos, this had better be important or he'd hang Snively's head on his wall. After all, he had more humans to roboticize and he didn't want to be half awake when he did it.

He bristled down the hall, still grumbling. In the computer room, Snively was talking to a mecha soldier, a female judging by the metallic but feminine silhouette. He hadn't noticed Sonic yet and was speaking quietly and rapidly. Little known was the fact that Sonic could clearly hear every word, every syllable... every nervous intake of breath.

"Sir, we've detained the intruder,"

"You are to let her go and tell her not to come back!"

Sonic's ears flicked in curiosity and suspicion. So there was an intruder. And it was a female. And for some reason, Snively didn't want him to know about it.

"She wishes to speak with you,"

"Tell her I can't talk to her right now! I will not risk my security. One wrong move," Snively paused to draw a line across his throat. "and he'll kill me,"

The mecha soldier's metal eyelids blinked, a useless but emotionless gesture. "What is so significant about this echinda?"

Echinda? Had the Freedom Fighters sent Knuckles to... no. It had to be a woman; they used female pronouns. Perhaps Julie Su broke in?

"She's... an old aqaintance. Just let her go and report back to me so I can wipe your memory of this conversation,"

The mecha soldier was about to turn and leave when Sonic's smooth but cold and cutting voice cut through. "I'm afraid that your order is to stay, Mecha,"

Snively let out a girlish scream and turned to face the blue hedgehog whom was currently glowering at him with crossed arms.

"Snively, do I have reason to question your loyalty?" Sonic asked. His voice was slow and polite, but razor sharp. Just the way he'd intended it to be.

The short human shook his head rapidly as his throat clenched from fear.

"I see, then what reason do you have for letting go intruders without my knowledge or consent?"

"I-I-I..." Snively stuttered before pausing to come up with an adequate answer. "I didn't w-want you to t-trouble yourself with an unruly intruder,"

Sonic shook his head and rolled his eyes in an obvious manner. "Bring her to me right now before I throw your sorry butt into the roboticizer,"

Snively nodded, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

* * *

"So, Lien Da," Sonic asked the black clad echinda standing in front of him. He clapped his hands together and smiled a tight smile. "I simply must inquire: who sent you?"

Lien Da chuckled and grinned just as fake as he did. "I sent myself, young conquerer,"

Sonic's hunrgy grin morphed into a smirk of pleasure. "So _that's _what they're calling me?"

"Among less flattering things,"

The hedgehog could only laugh... as if this whole ordeal was a hilarious inside joke. When he stopped, his grin still betrayed his amusement, but he answered with his eyes sarcastically half lidded. "I'm no conquerer... I'm much, _much_ worse,"

Lien Da smacked her lips and leaned forward, studying Sonic intently. "Then what _are _you, boy?"

"The humans' worst nightmare. That's what I am,"

Lien Da glanced at Snively, who shifted uncomfortably. Sonic noticed this and chuckled. "Snively here is lucky that I have use for him," His tone became more cynical, threatening if one squinted. "Of course, if his loyalty to me was to be questioned..." He focused his attention back to Lien Da. "Anyway, what exactly are you doing here?"

The female smiled in a presumed attempt to look disarming, but it only made her look devious. "I've come to join you, of course. Eggman was a _horrible _villian. The guy had no structure or rationale. Sometimes I even questioned his sanity. Naturally, when I heard of your little turn over to the dark side, I was immensely pleased. There's finally a leader worth following,"

Something in Sonic's gut nagged him. _No, don't trust her. _Was it his sixth sense? Renmants of his past heroic way of thinking that wired his brain to see Lien Da as a threat? Or perhaps he was paranoid... "Why should I trust you?"

"Why not?" Lien Da countered, shrugging nonchalantly. "You trust Snively and him and I are pretty much on the same wavelength,"

"And what reason would I have to recruit you?"

"Many, actually," Lien Da smiled as she listed said reasons. "I'm superb with computers and hacking, I can pilot aircrafts, I was one of Eggman's chief strategists, I know martial arts. I can go on all night, but it's almost four in the morning so you ought to just accept me already and be on your way to bed, little one,"

"Well, aren't we bold?" Sonic mused. "I like that sort of trait. You're hired..."

_Yes! _Lien Da thought eagerly.

"... and your first duty is to sweep the hall,"

_No! _she thought in succession.

To add insult to injury, Sonic briskly tossed her a hairball covered broom that looked a hundred years old. Clenching her teeth and stifling a snide remark, Lien Da took it.

It didn't matter anyway, she told herself. Once she achieved her goal, Sonic would be the one handling mundane chores, along with worldwide murder, of course...

* * *

A/ N: Is it just me or is there something just so edgy about female villians? For this reason, Lien Da is one of my favorite characters in the series.

Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna oogle over edgy fan art XD


	10. Chapter Eight: The Chaotix

Nicole was definitely not pleased to have found a note on Tails's nightstand early one morning informing her that he'd run away.

_To whomever this may concern,_

_I'm sorry for my abrupt departure, but I want my big brother back. I know that deep down, Sonic's still the carefree chilli dog loving hero that picked me up out of the streets. He gave me a home. He accepted me two tails and all. He made me feel loved in a way my own parents never could.__I'm gonna try to talk to him. I know you're worried, but he'd never hurt me. You know that. I know that. He knows that. If we could just get through to him civilally, maybe we could help him see the error in his ways and he'd stop and come back.__If he doesn't talk to me, I'll try again. And again. And again. You get the idea. I'm not giving up on my best friend... you shouldn't either._

_\- Tails._

Frustrated, Nicole waded up the piece of paper and forcefully threw it in the waste basket. How could Tails be so stupid? Was he so blind as to actually look for Sonic on his own? Then again, maybe he had a point... No. He was crazy and this was suicide.

Nicole called a meeting later that day and assigned a duo comprised of Bunnie and Antoine to find Tails and bring him back by force.

* * *

Sand Hill City had been rather disrupted since Sonic's assassination attempt against the President.

A good deal of Mobians actually agreed with the former hero when it came to President Johnson. The man had been enwrapped in scandal after scandal and hadn't done much for GUN in general, although he recieved mostly positive media coverage.

Sonic's new motto itself -"Watch me unravel,"- had been picked up, Tails noticed as he walked down the streets. The phrase was graffitied on fading cracked walls, torn up posters with the words inscribed blowed around, and the kitsune could've sworn he saw several people with _Watch me unravel _printed on their shirts.

Intentionally or unintentionally, Sonic had started a movement. A violent one at that. Tails had heard people whispering about violent activities performed by the stuwarts of this movement.

"_One guy threw a TV through the post office window,_"

"_There was a girl that punched the mayor,_"

"_Some old man vandalized his own car and graffitied that new slogan on it,_"

Tails blinked in disbelief at that last one, but continued his walk. He approached the building he'd been traveling to all along: the Chaotix's new offics. Hesitating at first, he treaded up the stairs and knocked three times.

After some yelling ("Charmy! Get the door; I'm busy!") and shuffling from inside, Charmy flung the wooden door open with a happy grin that seemed so natural on his face. "Hiya, Tails!"

"Hey, Charmy," Tails greeted politely. "Are the other Chaotix at home?"

"Espio is meditating at the city chao garden, but he'll be back in a few. Vector is kinda busy but he'll have a few minutes to talk, I'm sure," The young bee preceded to move aside from the doorway to let Tails through. "Make yourself comfortable,"

The first thing that Tails noticed was that the room was... a wreck. It still held the Sprite green walls and hardwood floor he remembered, but the similarities ended there. Papers and such were strewn all over the floor and furniture. The small kitchenette had an overflowing counter of nothing but used (and probably resued) coffee mugs that had gone unwashed. What was worse that the place reeked of...

"Booze?" Tails sniffed, his face contorting into concern and scolding in one. "I thought that you guys only drink coffee,"

Charmy sighed. Obviously, he didn't like the scent (or the alcohol in general) either. "Vector's been stressed out lately, so..."

Although to a significantly smaller degree, at least Sonic wasn't the only one currently making bad decisions. Oddly enough, Tails was thankful for that. He didn't have to single Sonic out exclusively.

Vector's voice rang from an adjacent room. "I told you, the guy skipped town! No, no! Not Kevin!"

Tails looked at Charmy with a puzzled expression until the bee gave an acceptable answer. "He's had an overflow of work ever since Sonic tried to kill Johnson. There's been quite a spike of crime,"

"I can imagine," Tails said.

The door creaked open, revealing Espio whom had a blue yoga mat tucked under his right arm. He greeted Tails with a brisk nod as he walked past into the room Vector was in.

He didn't even say hello.

* * *

A full two hours passed before Vector and Eapio filed out into the main room and squeezed next to Charmy on the leather brown sofa. Tails situated himself on a matching recliner several feet away where he nervously tapped his gloved fingers against the mug of coffee he'd been given.

"So, Tails," Vector drawled impatiently. "Charmy here says you need our services,"

Tails nodded.

Espio made a soft humming noise, thoughtful. "Is this about Sonic?"

"Yeah," Tails answered. He sighed and looked away before continuing. "I know he's been making some... _mistakes _lately, but I already lost Aunt Sally. I can't lose my big bro too,"

"And what do you propose we do?" Charmy asked.

The kitsune looked all three detectives in the eye, trying to draw out conviction, maybe a whim. "Help me find him,"

Vector snorted in agitation. "No way, kid. We're already knee deep in cases,"

"But-"

"We're sorry, but whatever the boss says goes," Espio said sympathetically. "We just don't have the time and cof- I mean energy to go on a wild goosechase for someone that obviously doesn't want to be found,"

"How do you know Sonic doesn't want to be found? What if he's just waiting for someone to care enough to talk to him so he can come back?"

Espio hadn't considered that. "We know our stuff. Trust me, Sonic doesn't want to be found," He stood up, walked across the foyer, and opened the front door. "I hate to be rude, but we're really busy,"

"But-"

Vector cut Tails off sharply. "Look, kiddo, we wanna help you. We just can't right now. Come back in a few weeks, then we can talk,"

His ears flattened and his heart hurt, Tails set his mug on the coffee table and made his way to the entry. As Charmy shut the door behind him, muttering a quiet goodbye, Tails couldn't help but think _I can't wait weeks._ _I want Sonic back now._

He'd have to find Sonic's hiding place on his own, he knew.

* * *

He asked around on the city street for answers on Sonic's whereabouts. Most said they had no earthly idea, some took wild guesses, and some proposed places too absurd to mention in seriousness.

"Maybe he's skipping town to the next country over,"

"He hates water, so you can rule out Abadat and Apotos,"

"He flew off to the west direction. How about Chung En?"

"The casino. That's where I'd be if I were him,"

Tails thought he'd never get a valid answer until around sundown, he caught a whiff of a cloaked figure slipping through an alleyway. Against his better judgement, he followed the figure.

"Hey!" he yelled out just as the figure was about to open a metal door. The person looked over and met him with blazing purple eyes and red dreadlocks, which distinguished them as an echinda. The cloak was form fitting, allowing Tails to assume it was a female.

The echinda lowered her hood and Tails barely stifled a disgusted gasp. "Lien Da!"

She smiled wickedly and waved her right arm around. "In the flesh,"

"What are you doing here?!" Tails demanded.

"Sightseeing," Lien Da replied flatly, ever the blunt one. "What's it to you?"

"You're up to something; you're always up to something,"

The woman recoiled in mock offense. "You insult me,"

"If you're really _sightseeing_, you won't mind a simple question," Tails retorted. His intook breath and held it. "Where's Sonic?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Yes,"

"You really _really _want to know?"

"YES!"

"You really really-"

"JIST TELL ME, DANG IT!"

Lien Da momentarily flinched (Jeez, that kid had some lungs) before laughing. "Touchy, I see," She stepped down the stairs and stopped just inches from Tails's face. As she spoke, he felt her cold minty breath on his muzzle, both alluring and chilling to the bone. "You can find the guy in Eggman's old base: Eggmanland,"

"That tacky amusement park?"

Lien Da shrugged indifferently. "That's why Sonic's renovating the place,"

He was in Eggmanland... Tails's best friend and surrogate brother, the onoy one he truly counted as family was across the globe waiting for him, needing his help deep down inside. Sonic had helped him more times than could be counted. It was only fair that Tails return the favor. He just needed to figure out the words on how to do it.

* * *

A/ N: Sappy, I know. Thanks for the reviews, by the way.


	11. Chapter Nine: Broken Memories

Sally was alone for the first time in days. She had requested that Silver teleport her (alone) to the ruins of Knothole. She noticed that the cracked walls had the same phrase graffitied over and over again: _Watch me unravel._

Knothole looked the way it did when Sally had first arrived into this timeline. Cracking facades. Fading colors. Broken memories.

The girl clutched her bow staff tightly, as if expecting to be attacked any moment. The atmosphere was that tense. She walked down the cracked street and stopped at Sir Charles' aka Uncle Chuck's old diner. The red roof was a greyish fading shade of red. The indoor tiles were dusty and some uprooted. Tables were toppled over and the shelves were ransacked. Sally stepped through a broken window, careful not to cut herself on the glass, and stepped inside the dinning area.

This place held so many pleseant memories now soured by circumstance. There was the time Antoine had asked Sally out at age eight, holding a dirt covered wad of weeds in the place of a boquet. Then there was the incident when Tails had publicly questioned Sonic about where babies come from (in response, the flustered hedgehog had told him to ask Sally). And nobody can forget when all of the Freedom Fighters had a brutal food fight on Thanksgiving, somehow causing Sonic and Sally to have their first kiss.

That life seemed a thousand years away, rather than two hundred.

* * *

"Knuckles," Sally inquired later that day. Silver had picked her up ten minutes late and accidentally teleported her to Antarctica rather than Angel Island. Twice. After that, it was decided that Sally not go anywhere without assistance.

The old wrinkled echinda spun in Sally's direction with calm patient eyes, turning from the stew he'd been brewing. "Hm?"

"Did you and Julie Su ever get together?"

Knuckles almost dropped hiz spoon from the blunt question. Recovering, he set said spoon on the quartz counter and chuckled nervously "Well, in context..."

"You did?" Sally probed, leaning against the counter.

"We never got married," Knuckles admitted as he pulled out a bottle of spices and poured a pinch into the stew. Clicking his tongue, he continued. "But we did have a daughter,"

The Princess smiled proudly. She was an aunt. After all, she and Julie Su had made a pact that they'd be the aunts of each other's children. She had had every intention of holding her friend to that. "Mind telling me about her?"

Knuckles snorted curtly. "Yes, actually,"

Sally was silent for a moment, questioning Knuckles's sudden change in demeanor. Then she pushed further. "What's her name?"

Knuckles's purple eyes bored into Sally's. The two had a mental standoff right then until the echinda sighed. "Lara Su," Sally definitely didn't expect him to continue. "She was red, like me but had her mom's pink bangs. She wore glasses and predominantly the color black. My daughter..." He chuckled softly. "was a little unruly and stubborn like me, but she always had good intentions," His face darkened and he looked away. "She wanted to be the next Guardian of the Master Emerald. I tried to teach her and she tried to learn, but... she was deemed unworthy by the echinda tribe. She became resentful toward the tribe and even her mother and me, claiming it was our fault somehow. The next day... she ran away. I never saw her again,"

Sally was silent. Why was it that Lara Su's situation reminded her so much of Sonic's? She lost her dream. He lost his girl. She ran away never to be found. He made himself known and infamous through villiany.

Then again... they both were dealt bad hands by life and had lashed out in response.

"How old is she?" Sally brought herself to ask.

"If she were still alive... she'd be one hundred and ninety four,"

Sally's jaw dropped almost comically until she remembered that it was two hundred years in the future and Knuckles himself was two hundred and sixteen. So... did that make her two hundred and fifteen?

"Guardian echindas don't age the same as other echindas. We live much, _much _longer. Lara Su's most likely dead from old age, as is Julie Su. All I can hops is that it was old age that got her and that she lived a fullfilled life..." He sighed and looked wistfully out the window. "Maybe then I could feel like I didn't screw up as a father,"

All the Princess could do was swallow and nod.

* * *

A/ N: I promise the next few chapters will be better. Well, goodnight.


	12. Chapter Ten: An Unexpected Visitor

Sonic didn't exactly trust Lien Da. Her very aura itself reeked of betrayal. The only reason he'd even let her join his ranks was because he knew from past experience that she was skilled. Once he finally roboticized the human race, he'd simply throw her into the roboticizer along with Snively. He just had to betray her before she betrayed him.

He'd been coming back from an attack on a human trading caravan (in which he'd stolen most of their supplies) when one of his own mecha soldiers approached him in the forest.

"Sir," the robot said in a lifeless automated voice that once sent shivers down Sonic's spine. "There's another intruder,"

The hedgehog sighed at the inconvenience. "Again? I have things to do today," He cracked his own knuckles with a sickening crack. "I'll go handle it,"

In a flash of red (for some reason, his speed no longer produced a blue streak when he ran), Sonic blazed through the forest. He skidded to a stop at the doors of the base. The watchmen immediately recognized him and the metal paneled door slid open.

The base itself was reconstructed from Eggmanland, which Sonic had every attention of renaming. The hedgehog had ripped out the red and black panels that lined the buildings and replaced them with blue and silver paneling. The obnoxious carnavel rides that existed as a result of Eggman's uncanny fascination with amusement parks were gone and silver tracks complete with ramps in springs were in it's place.

Once Sonic got to the main computer room, he was greeted with a brisk nod from Lien Da. Snively walked up to him with his hands tucked behind his back.

He leaned back against the table. "Snively, where's the inturder?"

"We've detained him," the human replied. Sonic noticed as he clenched his jaw and sweat traveled down his temple.

"Do I know him?" he questioned. Chaos, he hoped it wasn't Shadow or Knuckles.

"Um..." Snively drawled nervously. "Yes, but-"

"Who is it?"

The green clad human's shoulders slumped. "It's... Miles Prower. The two tailed freak," For a second, Snively thought Sonic would strike him, but the hedgehog merely glowered coldly, as if to silently scold him for calling the kitsune a freak. Obviously, he still had lingering affection for his old friends. It would fade, he knew.

"Tails..." Sonic muttered, barely audible. He turned to the mecha soldier that had accompanied him and added much louder. "Bring him to me. Now,"

The mecha soldier nodded and exited to fullfill his task. Sonic fought off the urge to throw up. Tails was actually desperate (or stupid) enough to break into his base. Why? To stop him? No, that couldn't be it. Sonic had a great deal of respect for the kitsune's intelligence and mechanical prowess, but if the Freedom Fighters actually wanted a chance at finishing him off, they would've sent stonger members and more than one. They'd probably temporarily hire Shadow for that. It was what Sonic would do in their place.

So... was Tails there to try to negotiate? That hardly seemed worthy of invading a facility guarded by thousands of badniks, hundreds of roboticized humans, and a full air force and navy. If that were the case, what would he say to him? Would Tails embrace him and beg him to come back? Would he join his cause?

Sonic's breath caught in his throat as two mecha soldiers escorted Tails into the room, clutching his scrawny shoulders. The kitsune was covered in light scratches presumably from a standoff with the robots and his fur was matted. He had deep purple bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days. Maybe he hadn't.

"Wha... what are you..." Sonic breathed, his eyes wide. Part of him wanted to rush forward and hug the kitsune. Part of him wanted to outright throw him into the roboticizer. A small fragment wanted to run away screaming.

Tails beat him to the punch. "Sonic, please," he said with pleading blue eyes. "This has gone on long enough,"

"You shouldn't be here,"

"Neither should you,"

Sonic was silent, mulling over his next response. Calculating. Tails noticed the focused but emotionless look in Sonic's dull green eyes and knew... he _knew_ that his big brother had changed and that terrified him. Question was, could he change him back?

"Please listen to me," Tails practically begged. "You don't want to destroy the humans. I know you don't. I mean, think about the innocent-"

Sonic cut him off sharply. "No human is innocent, Miles,"

Miles. He'd actually called him Miles. Tails visibly cringed. "What about the Thorndykes? Or Sam Spark? Or Princess Elise? Or Sara?"

Sonic had no living idea how to respond to that. Noticing the older Mobian's frustration, Tails continued. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"

"Good. That's my goal," Sonic declared with a condescending smirk and crossed arms.

Tails frowned and shook his head, his bangs flopping as he did so. "If Sally could see you now, she'd be ashamed of you,"

_Alacazam! _That statement mads his facade crack as if by magic. Sonic turned pale. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His arms fell slack on the sides of his body. Tails suddenly felt sorry he'd said that.

After a moment, Sonic regained his composure and scowled. "If you were _anyone else_, you wouldn't still be living,"

"Because you still care?"

"Erg! Shut up!" Sonic exclaimed, his face reddening from anger and his fists clenched. Tails flinched but kept on.

"If you were truly evil, you definitely would've killed me. No, mentioning Sally wouldn't even have affected you. But it does. Know why? Cause you loved her. Evil knows no love. You wouldn't have had the ability to love Sally,"

"Don't you dare say her name!" Sonic seethed.

"Maybe you need to hear it!" Tails retorted.

The hedgehog turned to the mecha soldiers. "We're done here," he said stiffly. "Take him to the prison ward. I'll figure out what to do with him later,"

Even as the robots tugged the kitsune away forcefully, Sonic could've sworn he heard Tails whisper _I love you, big bro._

Tails was gone and silence and tension filled the computer room.

* * *

A/ N: *sighs* When will Sonic learn?

Please review! I love reading them.


	13. Chapter Eleven: Red Eyes

Tails had lost count of exactly how long he'd been locked up, but he suspectec it was several hours. His cell was in a brick walled building at the edge of Eggmanland. A leak deteriorated the ceiling tils above his head, causing water to drip on his bed every five seconds. In other cells in the aisleway were locked up humans, a result of Sonic's mecha soldier's exploits on small villages. Rumor was that all Mobian villagers had been spared.

He couldn't believe it. Sonic had actually captured him. Question was what was he planning to do to him? Would he keep him here to rot? Would he roboticize him? Would he hold him for ransom? Would he let him go?

Tails shivered as a result of the cold cell. He caught himself wishing Sonic would at least install a heater. He wrapped his tails around himself, which helped less than he expected.

Thirty minutes later and he was about to resign to his fate (whatever that would be) when a cloaked figure stopped in front of his cell, pulled out a gooden key, and unlocked the cell door before opening it with a loud creaking noise.

Tails stepped out hesistantly. He couldn't see the stranger's face in the dark and the last time he'd encountered a cloaked figure... he ran into Lien Da.

"Follow me," the stanger whispered quietly enough so that Tails couldn't identify the voice but loud enough for him to hear.

"Who are you?" the kitsune inquired. His voice bounced off the walls.

The stanger quickly shushed him. "Shh! I'm not supposed to be here!"

Whoever it was, he started walking off and beckoned Tails to follow. Reluctantly, Tails obeyed. He followed the stanger all the way outside into a forest clearing just outside Eggmanland. The moon shone high and the crickets created a quiet atmosphere. The wind was much warmer compared to his cell that he actually smiled for a moment.

Tails clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes studiously. "Now will you tell me who you are?"

"No," the stranger replied curtly. Tails noticed that at the back of the figure's head was a bulge in the shape of hedgehog quills and that height wise, he wasn't so far from... no way.

"Sonic, is it you?"

The figure spun on his heel revealing wide green eyes. "Um... I..."

"You let me go," Tails pointed out with a satisfied grin. "You proved my point. You're not evil,"

"This is strategic!" Sonic exclaimed, waving a finger around like a mother scolding her child.

"How?"

"Uh... like I'm gonna tell you!"

Tails chuckled softly. "Sure. That's the reason,"

Sonic growled as his tan muzzle turned beet red and snapped. "Just leave and don't come back!" After taking a breath, he added. "I have your plane parked about a mile south from here,"

"Okay, I'll go," Tails agreed reluctantly. He took a step forward and to Sonic's suprise, he hugged him tightly. "But I will never give up on you,"

For a second, Tails thought that Sonic was going to hug him back, but the second faded a quickly as it came and the hedgehog pried him off forcefully. "Hey, enough of that!"

"See ya later, Sonic," the kitsune said with an uncanny smile. He may not have gotten through to him, but he still witnessed enough to know that his brother was salvagable.

Sonic huffed and rolled his eyes. For a moment, they flashed red before returning to their natural green. "We'll see about that,"

Without another word, he took off through the night in the form of a red blur. Red... why was his blur suddenly red, Tails wondered. And his eyes...

* * *

A/ N: I bet nobody can guess what the red blur and eyes are about :p

Sayunara!


	14. Chapter Twelve: Under The Influence

About a month passed in a pattern. Everyday, Sally would wake up at the crack of dawn for breakfast and training with Silver until lunch. After lunch, she'd study history and battle strategy with Knuckles for an hour or so. She'd spend the rest of the day in leisure, sometimes exploring the wilds of Angel Island and other times socializing with the local villagers.

The pattern had never been broken. Until today, that is.

Sally had requested that Silver take her to the ruins of Eggmanland. Reluctantly, the time traveler had agreed and telepprted them both there with some chaos energy he'd built up.

The ruins were just as Sally expected, which was not a good thing. The metal paneling of the buildings were either rusted, torn, missing, or had burn marks. Heaps and husks of deactivated badniks and mecha soldiers shaped like humans were strewn about, some with weapons lodged in them. The place itself was silent expect for the cruel howl of the cold wind.

"This place is a dump," Silver stated.

Sally nodded. "Agreed. I can't believe Sonic actually lived here,"

The duo said not another word as they walked around, inspecting the mess Sonic had left the place in. Sally for one still couldn't believe her demise had led her lover to such drastic measures. It was as if something in his mind had suddenly snapped and threw a tantrum. The world just happened to be in Sonic's crossfire and suffered for it.

Out of the corner of her vision, Sally spotted a tower that peaked into the sky. She glanced over her shoulder at Silver, whom was currently inspecting desecrated badniks. Against her better judgement, she slipped past and pried open the metal door, ahich slid open much easier than she'd expected.

She walked inside to find a dark and cold room with a winding staircase in the middle. Something about the atmosphere seemed... off. Like this place was haunted or the sight of something gruesome. Knuckles _did _say people died in the Last Stand...

Sally slid a hand across the cold metal railing as she walked up the stairs, her feet creating an echo as she went. The stair had a total of ten flights, so by the time she reached the top, her legs ached from the effort.

The room she found herself in was circular with windows winding the whole way around, causing Sally to wonder how the ceiling didn't fall in. The walls were a metallic silver and the floor black tile. In the center of the room was a black rock on the floor. Sally walked forward, bent over, and picked the rock off the floor. A deep crack ran through the center and if the light hit it right, there were red spots that glowed.

This stone felt... odd in her hand. Not necessarily magic, more like it was... dead instead of an inanimate object. It was as if she could feel something through it causing a shiver to go down her spine.

She stepped forward to walk to the window, but stumbled and the stone flew out of her hand, hitting the floor with a loud crack, leaving her to watch the relic unravel in shattered pieces with a suprised yelp.

Then came a concerned voice from downstairs. "Sally? You okay? I just heard glass break,"

"I'll be down in a moment," she called back. She picked up a shard and stuffed it into her vest pocket before descending down the staircase.

* * *

Knuckles was flipping through one of his books idly at his table when his door swung open.

"Sally? Silver?" he said gruffly. "What are you doing here?"

Neither answered as Sally pulled out a black shard from her pocket and held it out. "I found a weird stone in Eggmanland. I, uh..." she chuckled sheepishly. "I kinda dropped it, though. Here's one of the shards,"

Knuckles hummed thoughtfully as he took the shard from Sally's hand. "I'll take a look later. For now, take a break. You've been training nonstop,"

"But-"

Silver cut her off. "Sal, listen to him! I'm tired too!"

She winced at the nickname. "Don't call me that," She only let one person call her Sal and he was two hundred years in the past...

* * *

Sally was sleeping peacefully when she was rudely awakened by a red glow coming from outside. Grumbling to herself, she set her grogginess aside, crlimbed out of the warm embrace of her cot, and looked out the window. A red light from Knuckles's hut was filling the village, causing villagers to walk outside and look around with tired but confused expressions.

Sally pushed aside her own door and, still in her nightgown, marched across the dirt road and knocked on Knuckles's door. "HEY! You're disturbing the billage with that light!"

No response other than a threatening growl.

Dread creeped into her stomach. "Uh... Knuckles...?"

"GET OUT!" the voice on the other side of the door roared. "I'M BUSY!"

It was only then that Silver fell into step next to her, looking conflicted. "Sally, something is wrong. There's this weird aura coming from inside,"

"What do we do?"

Silver only shrugged.

Sally intook a deep breath and gathered her courage. "Stand back! I'm kicking open the door!"

She stepped back a few yards, and ran into the door as fast as she could. Impact pains radiated though her right shoulder as she pushed the door open.

Knuckles was clutching the shard in his hand, but it was glowing a blinding red. His eyes were wide and angry, his shoulders shook.

"What's going on?" Silver asked from outside.

"The Master Emerald... rejected her... after I worked so hard to train her and now she's gone!" the echinda ranted with a venomous scowl. The shard glowed brighter. "Get out of my house!"

"Knuckles, you're scaring me," Sally stammered. She took a cautious step back. "Just... calm down, okay?"

"How come YOU could defy death?! I mean, you're two hundred years in the future and still fifteen! Lara Su's long dead!"

The shard glowed so bright, Sally could barely see. Squinting, she tried to look Knuckles in the eye on to see that those usually calm violot orbs were flashing from purple to red every few seconds. "The shard... it's changing you! Just... put it down!"

Knuckles took a tentative glance toward his hand before continuing. "And Silver, if you hadn't linked the timelines, you'd be able to go back in time and convince Lara Su not to run away!"

"I didn't know about your daughter, but you can't pin this on me!" Silver yelled back. "I had nothing to do with it in the first place!"

Sally stepped between Silver and Knuckles. "Enough! Arguing will get us nowhere," She added more softly and her eyes bored into his. "Put. The Shard. Down,"

Something registered in Knuckles's gaze. Slowly, he placed the shard on the table and backed away to the doorway. His red eyes morphed back to to purple and he held his head between his hands. "Oh, my head..."

Sally patted her friend's shoulder affectionately. "You okay?"

"What just happened?"

"You went all demetia crazy cause of that shard," Silver stated bluntly.

"Silver!" Sally snapped.

Knuckles shook his head, as if to fight off memories. "That shard... after a while with it, I felt different, like my emotions were on steroids and I started thinking and doing stuff I wouldn't normally,"

"Maybe it's radioactive?" Silver suggested.

Sally picked the shard up, reared back her arm, and threw it out the window with a grunt. "Off with this thing!"

Silver grabbed Knuckles's arm and led him gently to the couch. Knuckles muttered his quick thank you and plopped down carelessly. "So about the shard," the old echinda started hoarsely. "I had my suspicions but this episode confirms it. That shard... was from the Phantom Ruby,"

"That's what the stone I dropped was?!" Sally gaped in disbelief.

Knuckles nodded solemnly. "That must be why Sonic did everything he did after your disappearance. The reason the ruby didn't affect you and Silver was because neither of you were emotionally vulnerable,"

"So... it feeds off negative emotions?"

"Of a high calibre, like grief,"

Silver's golden eyes widened and his posture became rigid. "So... Sonic was..."

"Being influenced by the Phantom Ruby," Sally finished. She smiled like one would after finishing a puzzle. "All we have to do with break it and he'll be back to normal,"

* * *

A/ N: Question is... will Sally be able to do that? Welp, my battery is about to give out so that's all for now.


	15. Chapter Thirteen: Secret File

A/ N: Just to let ya know, for the remainder of the story, the focus will mainly be on Sonic and Tails until the climax so there won't be much mention of Sally until then. Enjoy!

P.S: I have a choir concert tonight so wish me luck! #SapranosRule

Sonic was getting... frustrated to put it lightly.

As of late, Snively and Lien Da had been very secretive about the main computer. At first, he'd figured that they were just looking up explicit stuff online and shrugged it off, but he'd overheard several questioning conversations.

"Snively, he's on to us! We need to hide this in a separate file!"

"That will just draw suspicion,"

"If he finds out about..." Lien Da paused to choose her words carefully. "the... thing, he'll reroute all of our resources trying to... you know,"

Snively growled. "That's why we need to put in a password! We went over this a hundred times!"

"Yeah, and you put in Password123. EVERYONE has that password!"

"I..." he chuckled sheepishly. "wasn't feeling very creative that day,"

This wasn't the only occurance, Sonic noted. They'd have hushed secretive conversations not knowing that he was just around a corner listening in. It was almost amusing in a sense, like a game of chicken or cat and mouse.

On day, he'd happened to be in need of the computer and walked in on Snively and Lien Da examining a file. They didn't notice him. Not even when he stepped forward quietly they made no acknowledgement of his presence.

Snively clicked his tongue and stroked his pointy chin. "If he's in the Holaska base, then why not leave him be?"

"Cause he can still interfere with our plans," Lien Da pointed out. "The last thing we need is more Phantom Rubies circulating around. Those things are seriously unstable,"

"Sonic wouldn't be happy to know that we deployed mecha soldiers without his permission,"

"My hearing lapsed," Sonic said slyly. Both asistants yelped and spun toward his direction with horrified faces. "So tell me again, what wouldn't I be happy about?"

"M- master!" Snively gasped. "We didn't know you were here! We'd told you we'd handle surveillance,"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Sure. That's what this is about," He marched past the two who exchanged worried looks. He clicked on the file and just the title was enough to make his head spin.

The Whereabouts Of Dr Eggman.

Growling, he glared at the assistants. "How long have you two known about this?"

"Not long, really!" Lien Da reassured with a plastered smile and clasped hands. An obvious lie. "We were just about to bring it to your attention!"

"Yes, we were fixing to leave to notify you," Snively added nervously.

Sonic glowered at them as they smiled with clenched teeth, pale faces, and wide eyes. "I see," He typed in some commands into the computer before adding. "Lien Da, deploy a battilion of three hundred mecha soldiers to Holaska. I'll meet them there,"

* * *

A/ N: Oh, boy. Sonic's about to really bring it to the doc! Can he be stopped?


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Clockwork

Upon his release, Tails made sure to keep himself on the move, knowing that the Freedom Fighters were surely looking for him. He may have disobeyed Nicole's orders, but he was only eleven years old. The worst they could do was ground him. Still, if that happened, he wouldn't be able to help Sonic.

It just so happened that he was making a quick spin to Spagonia to report to Sir Charles about his encounter with Sonic. He didn't expect to find old Uncle Chuck... in the depths of the clock tower.

He was suspended on a platform about a story high. As Tails used his namesakes to propell himself upward, he noticed the old hedgehog drawing on a chalk board with diagrams and equations he couldn't even dream of understanding, and that was saying something considering that the kitsune was a prodigy.

Tails landed on the platform shakily. Charles looked over at him nonchalantly, as if he were expecting him to come. "Ah, any progress?"

The kitsune sighed sorrowfully with downcast eyes. "Not really," Then he perked up slightly. "But I did find Sonic,"

"R-really?" the inventor stammered. He honestly hadn't expected Tails to be successful. He had hoped that he would be... but never brought himself to believe it. He walked closer to Tails briskly. "How? What happened?"

"I tried sneaking into Eggmanland... but I got caught. Luckily, it was Sonic that interviewed me. I tried to talk him out of the whole revenge thing. I tried hard, Chuck," His eyes turned soft and pleading. "I really did. But he wouldn't listen and he locked me up. But after a few hours, he let me go and told me not to come back," Tails decided not to recall how Sonic's eyes and running blur flashed red. He figured it was his imagination playing tricks on him. He did however go on to describe everything he'd witnessed other than that, including the other prisoners, which were noticably all humans.

"So, he's keeping them until they're roboticized?" Charles inquired nervously.

Tails nodded. "I think so. But how do we stop them? If we send in GUN, they'll try to kill him,"

Charles hummed thoughtfully for a moment, but was interrupted by a deep rumbling coming from outside. He opened a window and stepped over to let Tails get a view. Outside, people were emerging from their homes and businesses looking up. Just as the kitsune and hedgehog looked up, they were greeted with the sight of a fighter jet soaring through the skyline, leaving a trail of whitw in it's wake.

"That wasn't a GUN jet," Tails noted. "What do you think it is?"

Charles paused for a moment. "That design is familiar... It's Eggman's jet,"

"So... Sonic?"

Charles nodded and stepped away from the window. He pulled out a compass and examined it carefully. "That jet is heading straight north. Sonic is sending his forces to Holaska,"

"Why would he do that?" Tails asked.

Charles merely shrugged. "I'll let the Freedom Fighters know. In the meantime, you need to leave. I have work to finish,"

"Okay. Well... it was nice seeing you, Chuck,"

The old inventor smiled and ruffled the child's bangs. "Be sure to visit again, Tails. If you see Sonic," he pulled out a slip of crinkled paper. "give him this,"

"Gotcha," Tails said with a quick thumbs up. As soon as he did it, he realized he'd picked that up from Sonic and momentarily faltered. He masked his discomfort with a smile. "See ya later!"

He used his tails to lift himseld off the platform and slowly lowered himself to the ground. He was tempted to sneak a peak at the slip of paper in his hand, but figured that words for Sonic should stay exclusively for Sonic.

* * *

A/ N: Not much to say here. DWTL out!


	17. Chapter Fifteen: Child's Play

Sonic would make the doctor pay. Not only would he kill him, but he'd make it a long and painful death. He'd make the shrewd man feel the pain on the outside that he felt on the inside. An eye for an eye, he decided.

No... killing him was too merciful. What if he killed someone he cared for? No, no. Eggman loved none but himself. Sonic didn't even think he loved Snively, his own nephew. Besides, he still needed Snively.

Torture? Er... that was a little too barbaric for Sonic's tastes. He may have risen to villiany, but he still had his limits and torture was past them. So how could he efficiantly make Eggman suffer?

The idea hit him like a comedic lightbulb as he stared out the window on the silent flight to Holaska. The clouds wisped around the plane whimsically and softly. The sun was just starting to set like a dying flame. When one flame died in the sky, another was lit in Sonic's mind.

His robots. His eggmobile. His badniks. Those material things were his life. They were the only thing other than his own skin that he actually cared about... his life's work.

Sonic smirked slyly and a mischievous spark filled his emerald green eyes. Oh, how Eggman would come undone if he destroyed everything he owned. Not even the base the man currently resided at would still be standing by the time he was done. And when he was done, he'd finally kill Eggman, the man that made his childhood a living nightmare and took away the girl he loved.

* * *

Tails knew he wouldn't be able to beat Sonic to Holaska. For starters, the hedgehog had had a head start. Then there was the fact that he was using a fighter jet. Tails only had a bi plane.

Still, Sonic would have to prepare for whatever he was going to do, he knew. Whether it would be to gather supplies or plan, Tails would use that time frame to find him. Then again... what would he even say? Sonic had already sent him off and told him not to come back. Would he catch and release again or punish? Would he scold him or avoid him?

Tails shook his head in exasperation at himself. He'd just rushed in and-

His radio whirled to life in a mix of static. Then a voice.

"Tails! Land right now, youngin'!" a female demanded in Southern drawl that the kitsune was all too familiar with. Bunnie.

Then came a French accented voice. "Look below zee plane,"

Tails did as he was asked. Several yards below the Tornado's belly, Bunnie was propelling herself into flight with her rocket boots and holding Antoine in her arms. Antoine's gaze was wild and panicked; he constantly squirmed in his wife's grasp. Tails had expected nothing less from the coyote.

"You can't stop me!" he yelled at them. "I can get through to Sonic! I know I can!"

"And how'd it go last time, sugar?!" Bunnie exclaimed. Her voice could be heard both in the radio and from below. It hurt Tails's ears to listen to two sources of the same sound. "Ol' Chuck told us what happened. If Sonic ain't listenin' to you now, he ain't gonna later,"

Tails stuttered for a moment, trying to speak faster than his mouth could process coherently. "No! It was my fault! I brought Sally into it and offended him!"

"Then he needs to check himself and realize that this scheme of his is insane _on his own_," Bunnie argued.

Antoine nodded and added. "There ez nothing you can do, monsieur,"

"N-no! I can help him if you let me! I... I..." Tails trailed off. Logic told him that the two elder Mobians were right. Sonic simply wouldn't listen to him. One thing that hadn't changed was his stubbornness. But he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that his big brother was plunging himself and the human race into a dark era. The real Sonic was in there somewhere; he just knew it!

But... the only one who could bring that Sonic back was Sonic. Not Tails.

After a moment, the deflated kitsune frowned sorrowfully and nodded. "Okay. You guys win. I'm turning around to Knothole," _For the time being_, he almost added.

* * *

Nicole stared at the kitsune standing in Freedom HQ's doorway with a mix of happiness, sadness, and anger. He was back to her, but he obviously missed Sonic. Then again, he abandoned his post...

"Glad you finally started listening to logic, Miles," the lynx said stiffly. She crossed her arms and narrowed her bright green eyes. Tails winced. People usually only ever called him Miles if they were mad at him. "Maybe if you had the mind to cooperate with us, you'd know that we're planning an organized expedition to Holaska. It'll be a while before Sonic finds Eggman's hideout, I assume, so we're leading an organized assault,"

Tails shifted uncomfortably. "You won't hurt him, right?"

"This ain't child's play, kid," Bunnie said from behind him. Her words were stern but her tone sympathetic. "We'll do whatever we have to to get that hedgehog in prison where he belongs,"

"I guess that's better than killing him..."

Tails hadn't even considered that. If Sonic somehow saw the error of his ways and stopped roboticizing humans, what would happen to him? Would he be put under trial for his crimes? Would he run away and spend the rest of his days as a fugitive? If he did run away... would Tails come with him?

* * *

It was decided that Tails stay in Knothole under probation for abandoning his post, so he was sent to Vanilla's house. Usually, he stayed with Sonic but for obvious reasons that wasn't an option.

That night, as he sit up straight in bed, he pulled out the slip of paper that Charles had given him. He considered opening it, but knew he shouldn't. It was an invasion of privacy andCharles wouldn't appreciate it. But his mind still burned with curiosity.

He climbed out of bed and set the paper on the nightstand. He tip toed through darkness down the hall, down the stairs, and through the kitchen. On the island was a pad of paper and a pen from where Vanilla had written her grocery list earlier that day. Tentatively, he picked up the ppen and started writing his own message for Sonic.

* * *

A/ N: Hmm... I wonder what Tails is writing. Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. I've been busy. Sayunara!


	18. Chapter Sixteen: Us Versus Them

A/N: Yep. I'm back. I've been having computer problems lately but I just got a new tablet for Christmas so yay!

I've decided that I'm gonna delete all of my Sonic fics except for Watch Me Unravel, Chaos Academy, and Sonic Comic Reboot. I have this great AU idea and want to make a series but at the same time I want a clean slate. Besides, I read some of my old fics and either couldn't stop cringing at the lack of description or I had writer's block. So yeah. Enjoy this chapter.

DWTL out!

* * *

The fighter jet landed smoothly in a freezing expanse of barren tundra. Sonic hopped out and immediately shivered, cursing himself for not bringing some kind of jacket. Sally had scolded him endlessly about his lack of clothing in certain climates. He could almost hear her voice chastising him as if she came back from the death just to mother him.

"You'll catch hypothermia!" she always warned with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed in her oh so Sally manner. "At least wear a scarf or something!"

Sonic actually missed that, even though at the time he was annoyed with her for being a nag, as he'd put it. Sure, Sally was sometimes uptight and overprotective... but that just served to show that she cared. Perhaps he should've listened to her more...

He shook his head, snapping out of the momentary reverie. In the distance was a concrete building, perhaps a military compound. Sonic could faintly see the outline of Eggman's iconic (and obnoxious, in his opinion) symbol.

He balled his fists and plotted his path as his muscles tightened with unused energy. After a moment, that energy was released in the form of a blur of red light, blazing through the snow.

As Sonic ran, the cold wind whipped and stung his face, but he forged on. Strangely enough, he always liked the feeling of stinging wind. He was long used to it.

He skidded to a sloppy halt at the metal door, which was the height of a house. Sonic balled up his body and performed a spin dash, trying to bust open the imposing door. He landed on his feet and looked up. He had left a dent, but that was it. Frustrated, he tried a homing attack. Nothing. Sonic kept attacking and dashing and performing any tactic he could think of. He made little progress.

"Erg! That freaking door!" he cursed. His voice was drowned out by the howling of the wind as he proceeded to undergo a stream of swears. He heaved a sigh. "This isn't helping. But I've tried everything..." Then an idea popped into his head. He looked down at the Ruby implanted into his chest. It's deep red and black hue contradicted with Sonic's blue fur and the white snow. It was so stand out, Sonic was suprised he hadn't had the idea sooner.

The Ruby glowed as a sphere of energy formed in Sonic's right palm. Letting out a grunt, he threw the orb toward that cursed door. A hiss sounded as the metal glowed orange and melted, leaving a gaping hole.

"Finally!" Sonic exclaimed. He was just about to climb through the hole when a laser shot whizzed past his ear and struck the wall. Yelping in suprise, he spun around to see... no... way. How did they get here in time?! "So you actually caught up with me?" he sneered.

The Freedom Fighters were dressed in heavy parkas, scarves, goggles, and boots in each fighter's favorite color. Like him, they had snow tangled into their hair and fur and tired broken eyes that made them look much older than they really were.

"Sonic," Nicole said. Her eyes locked on his, brow upturned and pleading. "_please _stop fighting everyone. This whole revenge thing isn't doing you any favors. We don't want to kill you, but we will if you leave us no choice,"

Sonic scoffed. "You think I'm doing this for _myself?_ What part of revenge do you not understand? Besides the humans have forsaken us, left us to die. They left Sally to die," The Freedom Fighters exchanged uneasy glances as Sonic said their late leader's name. He continued. "It's use versus them,"

"This ain't what Sal gal wanted," Bunnie argued. "She fought for _everyone. _Humans and Mobians. We get that you're angry, but labelling all humans is as bad as humans discriminating against Mobians,"

Sonic clicked his tongue and turned his back. "I'm not here to chit chat," He looked over his shoulder one last time. "I have things to take care of and if you get in my way, don't expect me to hold back,"

"Fine. Neither will we," Nicole stated. "Freedom Fighters! Attack!"

They charged forward, shooting their plasma blasters, guns, and whatever other weapons they had in store. Sonic crawled through the hole and winced as a shot struck his right leg. They'd shot him, he exclaimed to himself. They'd actually shot him! His limb screamed in pain but he forged on. Limping, he took off running at half his usual speed down an empty corridor. He could hear gunshots and yelling from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the Freedom Fighters following him. They kept firing, but they were obviously trying to avoid Sonic's vital organs. They didn't have the stomach, he figured.

Sonic turned a corner as another shot grazed his arm, leaving a long bloody trail. Behind him, he left blood splotches on the floor from both wounds? It was as soon as he noticed this that he realized that his heart was beating way too fast and that he felt dizzy. His vision was starting to blur. He knew that he needed medical attention, but from where? If the Freedom Fighters helped him, they'd take him back to Knothole and he'd be locked up in prison. Henwould have to help himself, but he kept his focus on finding Eggman.

Gritting his teeth, Sonic accelerated. His right leg burned from the effort and his fur was slowly becoming more and more blood stained. He kept running, slid down a stair rail, rounded a few more corners, and skidded to a stop at a vault styled door at the end of the corridor. He looked around. He could hear his pursuers in the distance, but he'd obviously outran them.

He fired an orb of energy from the Ruby at the door, causing it to melt. He crawled through the hole. The burned metal sizzled his fur, causing him tomyelp and almost throw himself inside.

"Wha-what are you doing in my bunker, pesky pincushion?!" a voice demanded. Sonic looked up to see Eggman backed against the wall, wearing a white robe. He was dripping wet, indicating that he'd just taken a shower. The room was quaintly furnished with a bed, a writing desk, and a nightstand, as well as an egg shaped alarm clock. Tacky as heck.

Sonic growled lowly as he tried to pull himself to his feet. He suceeded, but his knees buckled and he collasped again. Blood now stained the doorway and floor. Sonic's mind felt light lead and his body was getting rapidly weaker. Still he spared no effort to hide his disdain for Eggman. "You killed her..."

"Who? That bratty princess girlfriend of yours?" Eggman wondered rhetorically, smirking in a way that made Sonic want to kill him right then. "You took _everything _from me, Eggman... now I'll take... everything... from..."

The words left his lips in an exhausted whisper as his elbows buckled. He landed on his stomach. The Ruby dug into his chest painfully. Then Sonic remembered his plan B. As he lost consciousness, he let the Ruby take control.

Eggman laughed in sadistic amusement as Sonic's eyes fluttered shut. He knelt down and rolled Sonic onto his back. The Phantom Ruby was lodged in his chest... the Ruby that Eggman himself had created and installed in Metal Sonic. How the hedgehog got his hands on it was unknown, but at least he had his main prototype back.

He reached forward to pull it out, but it began to glow. A small purple vortex floated out of it and elevated into the air. No... it couldn't be...

Eggman gasped as the vortex suddenly took full size and rumbled like an earthquake. He felt gravity tug him toward it. He grabed onto his bed for support, wondering frantically how Sonic had activated Null Space unconscious. Perhaps it was something he did. Perhaps it was karma. Perhaps it was his punishment for the sins he'd commited against humanity.

He screamed as the vortex sucked him in. It closed into nothing and Eggman was gone where none could find him.

* * *

Eggman opened his eyes to find himself in his worst case scenario. He was standing on a platform of glowing purple cubes. The "sky" was black and had pink lines running through it. In the distance, he could hear a forlorn echo bouncing off from some unknown source.

No... oh chaos no. It was true. He was in Null Space.

* * *

Nicole slowly approached a metal door with a gaping hole in it, her comrades behind her cautiously. Gathering her bravery, the lynx cralwed through the seared metal greeted with a shocking sight.

Furniture was toppled and broken. Sonic was on the floor, unconscious and bleeding from his right leg and arm. Eggman was nowhere to be found.

* * *

A/N: Will Sonic be okay? Is Eggman stuck in Null Space permanently? What will the Freedom Fighters do with Sonic? You'll find out sooner or later.

Ciao and late Merry Christmas!


	19. Chapter Seventeen: Hater Of Hospitals

Sonic peered open his eyes to be greeted by the sight of a sterile white ceiling. As his vision adjusted, he looked around from where he laid. He was in what looked like a hospital room. He thought that he was alone until he looked over.

Though a glass pane, the Freedom Fighters were standing in the hall, talking to Doctor Quack in a hushed tone.

_Unbelievable_, Sonic thought. They'd actually taken him back to Knothole. He didn't have time for this set back. He had places to go! People to roboticize! If he was here, then...

He tried to life his right arm. Not only did it ache from his injury, but it was jerked back. He looked down to see that his wrist was chained to the bed. The same proved to be true for his left side and both ankles. No... no no no! Sonic immediately cursed himself for letting himself get captured.

Luckily, the Ruby was still right where he remembered it, just under his hospital gown. Another thing that annoyed him: clothes in general.

He could make out wisps of conversation between his former friends and the doctor.

"He's woozy from the blood loss and he might have developed an infection in his arm,"

"Will he be okay?"

"Presumably. That Ruby though..."

"What about it?"

"I think it's the cause of all the carnage he's been causing,"

Silence filled the air for a moment until the person speaking to Doctor Quack- most likely Nicole cleared her throat. "What do you mean?"

"I need to run more tests to be sure, but I think that gem has a component that amplifies negative emotions,"

"So he's... possessed?"

The doctor clicked his tongue. "I don't think that's it. He's obviously capable of making his own decisions. The Ruby merely morphed his judgement. It changed his personality, to put it simply,"

Sonic drowned out the rest of the conversation. The Ruby was controlling him...?

NO! That couldn't be it! They probably knew he was listening in and were lying to get him to throw aside his newfound power! And once that happened, he'd be helpless so they would lock him up in prison. He couldn't. There was no turning back from this path.

The hedgehog was left to ponder until he caught another phrase by chance. "The Ruby must be surgically removed,"

He was suddenly alert and frantic, his gaze darting from side to side. They wouldn't even give him a choice! They were going to take the Ruby from him like a mother would take a toy from a naughty child! They were going to force him into submission to rot!

The idea of surgery itself felt like a violation. Sonic was never fond of hospitals. He recalled several times in the past where it took multiple people (sometimes including Tails or Sally) to hold him down for a mere shot. He simply hated needles, scapnels, thermonitors, and ANYTHING used in a hospital.

A few moments later, Doctor Quack walked in alone, clipboard in hand. He smiled, but it was a nervous one. Like he thought Sonic was a poisonous snake coiled and ready to strike. "Ah, Sonic. Are you ready for the operation?"

"Do I look ready to you?" Sonic asked cynically. He narrowed his eyes at the old duck. "Isn't there some law that says a patient can refuse treatment?"

"That doesn't apply if said patient isn't of his or her right mind," Doctor Quack countered. He counted on his fingers as he listed. "For example, drug addicts, alcoholics, suicidals, clinically insane people, the list goes on,"

"I'm not any of those things so keep your grimy little hands off me!"

"Your judgement is clouded, Sonic. That classifies as being not of right mind,"

Sonic growled lowly, feeling like he was being talked down to. He hated it. "My judgement isn't _clouded_," If his hands weren't bound, he would've used air quotes. "My motives just changed,"

"If your past self saw you now, what would he think?"

Simple. That Sonic had been broken one too many times and was finally lashing out against the world to drown out the hurt. It would've eventually happened, Sonic knew. Sally's death merely triggered it.

The doctor took his patient's silence as an answer. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Leave me be, doc..." the hedgehog hissed, his tone filled with warning. "I'm not afraid of you,"

"Good. I don't want you to be. I'm trying to _help _you," He pulled out a surgical mask hooked up to what was presumably laughing gas. "You'll thank me later,"

As Doctor Quack lowered the mask toward Sonic's muzzle, the patient summoned forth what little energy he had, willing it tomhelp him. Under his hospital gown, the Ruby glowed vengefully and a force field of energy sent the doctor flying back with a shout.

Sonic then reached down and by sheer force from the Ruby's boost, he ripped off all his chains and hopped to his feet. Doctor Quack was sprawled on the floor, holding the side of his face in pain. Almost immediately, Nicole, Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor rushed in and surrounded him cautiously.

"Sonic! Cut it out!" Rotor demanded as Bunnie chimed in. "You ain't doing yerself any favors, Suggahhog,"

"Dis madness simply must stop for everyone's sakes," Antoine added. "Lay back down and let zee doctor do his job,"

Sonic scowled venomously and summoned forth two orbs of energy in each hand. Around him, small dark red cubes orbitted around him. His irises burned crimson red once again. The Ruby had filled him with a renewed power. He felt invincible. He felt powerful. He felt infinite. That was why he needed the Ruby. For the power...

"You can't tell me what to do!" he snapped at his former comrades. He flung the orbs forward. The exploded on contact with the tile floor, sending Rotor and Bunnie sprawling back.

Nicole charged forward, her right hand wrapped in virtual green light. Sonic met her blow full force with his own and the room was filled with a cascade of red and green sparks. The hedgehog and lynx both fell back. Sonic instigated the next collision, flinging orbs of energy at Nicole. The A.I lynx wraped herself in a green forcefield, blocking Sonic's blow.

The two repeatedly exchanged blows. The other Freedom Fighters aided Nicole at first but as the battle intensified, they fell back, realizing that is was too dangerous the moment Sonic and Nicole began using power beams.

Red met green in a blinding white light. The beams pushed out from their owner's hands and against each other. At first, they were evenly matched. But as Nicole started showing signs of exhaustion, Sonic's beam growed in length and pushed harder... and harder... and harder.

"Agh! No!" Nicole wailed as her beam dissipated and the red collided with her chest. She screamed as her physical form disintegrated back into the Freedom Fighter's mother computer, trapping her in walls of binary code until her nanite body regenerated, which usually took an hour.

The other Freedom Fighters gaped at the charred spot where Nicole had previously stood. They looked to Sonic to see him staring at the spot grimly, as if he was realizing what he had just done. The hedgehog quickly hid his remorse behind a victorious smirk. He put a hand against the window and it exploded in the form of red tinted glass. He hovered through the new opening and out of sight, out of mind.

* * *

A/ N: That sure didn't go well. Maybe next time Sonic will listen. Or perhaps not. We'll just hafta see, won't we?


End file.
